An Education in Souls and Ectoplasm
by UnluckyAndie
Summary: Being half ghost was just plain trouble. Being the princess was hard. Add being a meister who's best friends with Death the Kid on top of that and you've got a recipe for disaster. [Souls and Ectoplasm Book One]
1. Rylie and Fletcher

_"Have you ever thought about being a meister?"_

Going to Death Weapon Meister Academy was a dream of Rylie's, along with being a world-renowned Ectobiologist of course—that job would always hold a special place in her heart no matter where she went.

But a school where her diagnosis of Autism wouldn't matter, where an IEP or Disability Services wouldn't follow her like the Box Ghost followed her dad? She wouldn't need to learn math or English, just about souls and how to fight. Being half ghost helped with knowing a bit about souls—she already knew so much about ghost and halfa souls.

Kid's question stayed with her for a long time after their meeting. The answer was yes, she had thought of it. A lot. Being able to do _something_ instead of taking up the mantle of Phantom or only working as the princess of the Ghost Zone had always appealed to her. This was just what she needed. To be a hero like her dad.

She had asked her parents, practically _begged_ her dad to let her go. Her mom said yes, but only if her father agreed. It took him the longest to approve of it, being worried for her wellbeing like any other father would be, but she was finally able to attend the DWMA as a meister on a trial basis because of her halfa status. No one knew how resonance would go with ectoplasm involved, after all.

Well, she had an _idea_ of what might happen but she would never know unless she tested it, and she wasn't willing to do that. Not when it could spell death for the weapon in question.

Placed in the EAT class with her weapon partner, she hoped to help the world like her father did, by being a great longbow meister one day.

At the bottom of the stairs that led to their new school, Rylie Fenton and Fletcher Attwater stood, ready to make their way up. The stairs seemed to stretch into the sky, but that only made Rylie's grin grow. Today was the first day and they were two hours early.

She may be living in a different city, and going to a different school, but she was still the same Rylie. And home wasn't far.

The polo she wore—striped black and purple—was a gift from her father before she left. Her jeans and red sneakers were even reminiscent of her father's own style from high school. From her mother, a choker; it was black leather with a tanzanite heart in the middle.

It also served a functional purpose. With the careful melding of her grandparent's science, and her mother's magic, the choker hid Rylie's ecto-signature from scanners while still giving her full access to her powers.

Her black hair was kept short, as she normally liked it. New place, same Rylie.

"Ready, Fletch?" she asked, her amethyst eyes sparkling with excitement, glancing to her left.

Fletcher looked much better than he had when the Fentons first found him. His blue hair was wild and untamed but had a healthy shine, and his dark blue-green eyes glowed with determination. A pair of aviator goggles rested on his head and he wore a green and white turtleneck with a white scarf around his neck.

The two stud earrings in his left ear hid his ecto-signature, just like Rylie's choker hid hers.

"As always, Ry," he said, cocking a grin.

"Race you to the top!" Rylie took off like a rocket, blurring as she ran, a grin stretching her mouth wide.

Fletcher chuckled, racing after her. Rylie could always make him smile. They had run nearly to the top when Rylie's foot went intangible—damn her nerves—and she fell forward.

"Woah!" she cried out.

Fletcher pushed himself forward, unknowingly tapping into his ghost powers and moving faster than a human boy should. "Ry!" he shouted, rushing to catch her.

Except he didn't have to. A black and white figure swooped down the stairs just in time to grab Rylie's arm and pull her up. She thumped against their chest, getting a face full of silk and cashmere.

Looking up, she met Kid's golden eyes.

"You're a little early," he said, tilting his head up so he didn't get a mouthful of hair.

"Better to be early than late." Rylie chuckled, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "So… Do you come here often?"

_Stupid stupid stupid, of course he came here often, his dad was the headmaster!_

Fletcher sighed and shook his head.

Kid bit his tongue, holding back the retort that jumped so easily to his lips. _Now that you're here, I will._ It was teasing. It was bantery. It was flirty.

And he had no idea where it came from. Rylie's question _was_, traditionally, said in a flirtatious manner—at least according to Liz—but Kid knew Rylie meant it in earnest. He had also never flirted a day in his life and was completely baffled by the flirtatious response he suddenly wanted to say.

He didn't think Rylie would appreciate it, though. So he smiled instead, let her go, and stepped back. He missed her warmth immediately.

"There's two hours before class starts, I doubt anyone else is here except the teachers," he said after a moment.

Brushing her hair out of her face, Rylie replied with, "Which means there's enough time to do some studying." She smiled at the thought of all the time she would have to read. She got a spark in her eyes at the thought of studying.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Kid said. It was just so typical Rylie, one of the things he loved about her. "I can at least show you where the library is, new students sometimes get lost."

Fletcher groaned. "C'mon, Ry, you were reading while we were fly—"

Rylie stomped on Fletcher's foot, _hard_, and glared at him. He let out a _very manly_ yelp of pain and grabbed hold of his foot. She gave him a look that dared him to finish that sentence, to expose their secret in such a public place.

"Okay, okay, message received!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to do if you don't want to study," Kid said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and started up the rest of the steps. Glancing over his shoulder, he checked to make sure Rylie and Fletcher were following, and smirked when he saw them admiring the massive building.

The DWMA truly was a work of beauty.

Since they had the time, Kid gave them a quick tour of the building before heading to the library, showing them where the EAT classrooms were, the cafeteria, and how to find the Death Room.

"There are three libraries in the school," he explained as they neared their final destination. "One is just a general library for staff, students, and citizens of Death City. Another is specialized for NOT students, and this one here is for EAT students like yourselves."

Kid stopped in front of the dark wood doors at the end of the hall, laying a hand on the centre of each, and pushed them open at the same time.

The library was huge. Painted motifs of various meister and weapon duos in moments of triumph covered the ceiling. Rows of bookcases stretched all the way back to a staircase leading upstairs. The second floor—a large balcony circling the room—was lined with even more books.

Kid organized the stacks himself, using his own personal system.

Just ahead of them, in the middle of the main floor, was a place for study. Three rows of two long tables filled the open space.

Two students already occupied a couple tables. A boy with two pillars for hair, sticking up and back behind his ears, and a blonde girl with twintails. Kid recognized them both. Ox Ford and Maka Albarn. The top two students in the EAT class, and Rylie's new classmates.

Kid, with his father, had monitored a few of their missions before. He had done the same for all EAT students.

But the way they were sitting gave Kid pause. Ox claimed the front left table with seven books—_seven_—at his elbow. Maka had the back right, with three books.

Kid's eyebrow twitched. Without saying a word, he strode toward Ox.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Fletcher asked. He nudged Rylie and whispered, "Should we follow him?"

Rylie just sighed. She recognized the gleam in Kid's eyes. He wasn't going to stop until everything was just the way he wanted it. It was better to just let him do this.

Trailing his fingers along the dark wood, Kid walked around the table and stopped just behind Ox, his shadow falling over the book in Ox's hand.

"Excuse me?" Ox said as he looked up.

"You're excused." Kid snatched the book from under Ox's nose and scooped up the rest of the pile. Grabbing the back of Ox's chair, he started dragging it around to the middle table.

"Hey, stop, what are you doing?" Ox shouted, clinging to his chair.

Kid completely ignored him, and the wide-eyed stare Maka gave the pair. He placed four of Ox's books in a neat stack on the middle left table, holding onto the other three, and pushed Ox's chair in. Turning on his heel, he moved to Maka's table, picked up her books, and moved them to the middle right table. He added one of Ox's books to the stack.

Pulling out the chair in the middle table, he gave Maka a pointed look.

"Um… okay," Maka said. She changed seats.

Tucking Ox's other two books under his arms, Kid walked back to Rylie and Fletcher. Maka and Ox followed Kid with their eyes, and Rylie ducked behind Fletcher when Kid stopped beside him.

Kid pivoted on his heel and observed the scene while cradling his chin. Maka and Ox sat centered in the middle tables, four books each for a nice count of eight.

"There, that's better," Kid said.

"Uh, who are you?" Maka asked.

"Death the Kid, I watch you sometimes," he said.

"Dude, do you know how creepy that sounds?" Fletcher asked, looking at Kid with a raised eyebrow.

Kid paused. "No."

"Death the Kid? You're Lord Death's son!" Maka said.

"Yes, and this is Fletcher Attwater and Rylie Fenton. They're your classmates starting today." Kid gestured back to Fletcher and Rylie.

Rylie peeked over Fletcher's shoulder, caught Ox's narrowed gaze, and ducked her head again. This was not how she wanted to meet her classmates.

"_Fenton Works_ Fenton?" Ox asked.

"Yup!" Fletcher said, pushing Rylie into the library and towards the other two students. "That would be her."

Rylie sputtered, looking back at Fletcher as if to ask _why are you doing this to me?_

"Be social, Ry," he whispered.

"I can't be social, I'm socially awkward!" She whispered back.

"Perfect, they can finish showing you around," Kid said. He glanced at the clock above the reception desk. Liz and Patty would be awake soon and he didn't want to leave them on their own for too long. The last time he went out for the morning, he came home to all the rugs turned face down.

He just wasn't ready to deal with something like that today.

"Enjoy your first day." Kid clapped Rylie on the shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. "I need to make sure Patty doesn't unscrew half the light bulbs in the manor."

He walked away, scratching his head and muttering under his breath. "If she's going to take out half of them, can't she at least take them _all_ out?"

Rylie reached out to his retreating form, mouth agape. She didn't think he'd leave so soon, or so suddenly. _Oh no._

"I'm going to check out the rest of the library, have fun Ry," Fletcher said, waving over his shoulder as he started for the stacks, leaving Rylie with Maka and Ox.

Rylie squeaked, looking around nervously. She wasn't good at being social. _Damn it, Fletcher._

Ox looked at Rylie, then past her down the hall. Kid was well out of sight now. Blinking, Ox looked down at the four books Kid had left him with. "He… he took my books."

"Th–That's how he normally is, sorry about that," Rylie said softly, not looking at either Ox or Maka.

"He steals books?" Ox frowned.

Rylie shook her head. "H–He likes symmetry. And the number eight."

"Hmph. As long as he brings them back," Ox said. He took the first book from the stack Kid left and went back to his studying.

"He probably won't," she muttered.

"I've never seen Death's son before," Maka said. Even though most people knew he existed, he wasn't a common sight around Death City. Some DWMA students treated him like the local cryptid. "How do you know him?"

Rylie rubbed the back of her neck.

"W–Well, my dad was asked to consult on some ghostly defenses for the city," she said. It sounded reasonable enough. "After Amity Park got sucked into the Ghost Zone for the second time, a lot of cities asked for some help. So my dad brought me with him one day and, well... Kid and I became friends."

"Well, I hope we can become friends, too," Maka said. She stood and approached Rylie, holding out her hand. "I'm Maka Albarn, nice to meet you!"

Rylie looked at Maka's hand, then at Maka. She reached out to shake the girl's hand but seemed to think twice about it when her arm jerked back and gave a small wave instead. She had no clue what to say, interacting with people had never been an easy thing for her to do.

Maka's hand dropped a few inches, her smile faltering. But then her eyes widened and her grin returned full force as she waved back.

"Are you a weapon or a meister?" Maka asked.

"Meister," Rylie responded easily, more than a little thankful Maka was taking the lead for this conversation. She could work with that better.

Fletcher walked back into the study area from the opposite side he'd left, his nose stuck in a comic book. "I'm her weapon partner," he said without looking up. It looks to be an issue of _Batman: Knightfall._

"Where did you get a _comic book_?" Maka asked. She knew the library backward and forward, and it had no casual reading, only books for study. Fiction was kept in the public access library.

"He always carries one with him," Rylie replied quickly, her fingers twitching slightly. She wanted to hit Fletcher upside the head for leaving the library to get a _comic book_ of all things.

Ox slammed his book shut with a loud _slap._ Folding his hands, he sat up straight and looked at Rylie, his gaze critical. "You're supposed to be some kind of genius, right? I remember seeing it in the newspaper a while back. In that case, do you know how ghosts are formed?"

"Are you _quizzing_ her?" Maka hissed, raising one of her books in a threatening manner.

"Well, there are three types of ghosts that form in different ways," Rylie answered, looking Ox right in the eyes. She wasn't stepping down from _this_ challenge. "There are spirits, which are the ghostly souls of deceased individuals. They're formed, usually, when a human dies with unfinished business.

"Then you have ghosts, who were never human to begin with. A lot of them are formed by ideas that we have. One time, when I was in the ghost zone with my parents, I got to meet Pandora. She was formed around the idea of her story, and then her box came after," she continued, a sparkle coming to her eyes. "Finally, there are echoes. Pariah Dark's skeleton army is the best example of echoes. They're ghosts with no will, bound to serve whoever created them—or in Dark's case, the Crown of Fire. They're just created."

Ox hummed. "Okay, so you can memorize a textbook."

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" Maka asked, giving him a deadpan stare, her own book still raised above her head.

Ox squirmed in his seat and looked away.

"I didn't just memorize it, I helped my grandmother _write_ it," Rylie added flatly. "I helped her study these ghosts up close, in the Ghost Zone. If you're looking for ghost experts, look no further than my grandparents. I learned everything I know from them."

"Happy yet, Ox?" Maka asked.

Ox gathered his books, stood up, and said, "I suppose," before disappearing into the stacks.

Maka sighed, finally lowering her book, and turned to Rylie. "That's really impressive, though. We have a unit on ghosts in Soul Studies, but since they don't become Kishin Eggs we don't cover a lot. We don't have a lot of books on them either."

She leaned forward, reaching out to grab Rylie's hands, before stopping at the last second and clasping her own hands behind her back. "Can you tell me more about them?"

Rylie grinned.

"Oh, you got her going now," Fletcher commented, dodging a flick from Rylie.

"I can get you some books, i–if you want. My Nana's written a bunch of stuff." she was practically vibrating, looking so excited that Maka was interested.

Maka's eyes _sparkled_ at the thought.

* * *

Kid stared down at his feet as he walked up the front steps of Gallows Manor and stopped in front of the door. Patty wreaking havoc on their home wasn't the only reason he left so soon. He rushed to get away from Rylie because his mind was occupied with thoughts of, well, Rylie.

He only meant to hang around the school long enough to see her arrive, but he couldn't resist the chance to get close when he saw her trip. It was a spur of the moment desire that he indulged without a second thought.

But now that he _had_ thought of it, he wondered where that desire came from.

Liz opened the front door, pausing when she saw Kid.

"Oh, hey, you're back," she said. She leaned down to look him in the eye and poked his forehead, pushing his head up. "What's with that stupid grin?"

Kid scowled. "What?"

"Aw, it's gone now." Liz stood up and crossed her arms, a smirk dancing across her lips. "So, where were you?"

"I don't see why that matters," Kid said, brushing past her. Pausing to look in the mirror, he fixed the collar of his shirt before heading for the kitchen.

Liz ran after him, quickly catching up, and examined her nails as she walked. "So that Rylie chick starts school today, right?"

"Yes," Kid said warily, watching Liz from the corner of his eye. She looked casual, _too_ casual. She was up to something.

"Did you ask her out?"

"What?!" Kid stumbled and spun around, staring at Liz with wide eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing, I guess," Liz said, humming in disappointment.

Kid watched her long enough to make sure she wasn't going to say anything else before walking into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, pulling out a container of last night's leftovers—garlic pasta with shrimp—and closed the door.

Liz stood right behind the door, arms crossed.

Kid glared at her and moved to the microwave.

"Then again." Liz pushed off the counter and trailed after Kid. "You're so uptight, you probably wouldn't tell us if you asked a girl out."

"I'm not _uptight_." Kid slammed the microwave shut. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Because I don't like that cold look on your face." Liz put a hand on top of his head and turned his face toward his reflection in the microwave.

He didn't see what the big deal was. It was just his face, same as always. What he _really_ didn't understand was what his face had to do with Rylie in the first place.

"You just thought about her," Liz said.

"How would you know that?"

"Because you started smiling, and you get this stupid, happy look in your eyes. Ugh, it makes me sick." Liz rolled her eyes and scoffed, but she was smiling.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Elizabeth," Kid said.

"Suuure you don't, but I got full-named for it. I bet you—" A loud clacking cut Liz off.

Slowly, both she and Kid turned their heads. Patty froze on her way through the kitchen, her arms full of doorknobs.

Eyeing the brass knobs, Kid did a mental estimate of how many she was carrying. "Did you take all of them?"

"Uh–huh!" Patty grinned and nodded.

Kid smiled softly. "Good girl."

"Uh, what are you taking them for?" Liz asked, looking between Kid and her sister. How could she be the only one questioning this?

"A proooject," Patty said in a singsong voice. She continued on her way with a skip in her step.

"There, look, I just smiled at Patty," Kid said, pointing after her.

"Yeah, because she took _all_ the doorknobs. You smiled at _her_, not at the _thought of her._ Just think about it for a while."

"Okay." Kid turned on his heels and marched out of the kitchen, the microwave timer going off behind him.

"Wait! What about your food!" Liz shouted.

Kid went upstairs to his bedroom and dropped onto the bench at the foot of his bed.

Thinking about Rylie made him smile. What was the big deal about that? She was his best friend, of _course_ she made him happy. He loved every minute he got to spend with her.

It was hard before. The distance wasn't much of a problem, since Kid had Beelzebub and mirror travel, and Rylie could _fly_. But as they got older, finding time to hang out became challenging. He had his Death God duties and she had her royal responsibilities.

Now that she was living in Death City, they could hang out together all the time. After nine long years, there was no one he knew better than Rylie, and no one who knew him better than she did. Kid's heart _soared_.

He assumed everyone felt that way about their friends.

The problem with that was that Rylie was his _only_ friend, until he met Liz and Patty. Looking at the sisters never gave him the same thrill as seeing something beautifully symmetrical, but looking at Rylie did. While he liked spending time with them, he didn't miss them the same way he missed Rylie when they were apart.

He didn't want to flirt with Liz or Patty. Or kiss them.

"Oh," Kid said. He flopped back onto his bed, throwing his arms out and staring at the ceiling. So. He liked Rylie. As in _liked_ liked her. He wanted to hug her, and kiss her, and make her blush.

"Damn," Kid said. That meant Liz was right. She was going to be _so_ smug about this when she learned about it.

"You gonna ask her out?" Patty asked.

Kid didn't even notice her opening his door, and he didn't bother asking how she knew what he was thinking about.

"Yes," he answered right away.

"Hooray!"

There was a loud clang, followed by a clatter. Kid jerked upright.

Patty smashed two pans together over her head. She had tied long ribbons around the doorknobs, which she then wrapped around her waist, legs, and arms so the doorknobs banged around on every nearby surface.

"Kid loves Rylie!" Patty shouted, swaying her hips so the doorknobs rattled around. "Kid loves Rylie! Kid loves Rylie!"

She spun and ran down the hall, banging the pans and screaming her chant at the top of her lungs.

* * *

**Welcome to the first chapter of Souls and Ectoplasm! This story is co-written by AndieZIR and Unlucky Alis, and we're really excited to finally be posting after spending the summer working on this story.**

**At this point, we have nearly half the story written, so we'll be keeping an update schedule: every second Wednesday.**

**If you liked it, leave a review and let us know!**

**—Unlucky Alis**

**Update: Hey y'all. Torin here (formerly Andie). So some stuff happened and I am currently the sole writer of Souls and Ectoplasm now. The decision was Laz/Alis' and I respect her decision. But where does that leave S&E? Well, I'm going to be going through the chapters that have been posted on Ao3 and FFN and update them a bit. I'm not taking away what Laz wrote, not at all, I love those bits. But some of it was stuff I meant to do anyways.**


	2. The Monster of Death City

The room was cloaked in shadows. The barest sliver of light outlined the vague shape of two figures in shimmering green. One with chilling red eyes and the other with a cold grey.

One of the figures shifted and in a cold voice said, "Do you know your mission, Lenox?"

The second figure ducked their head. "Yes, father. I am to bring the princess to you."

"Good. Now go."

A green portal burst open in the middle of the room. It was blindingly bright against the darkness, but did little to illuminate the room. The second figure slipped through, their dark grey eyes flashing as they left.

"Soon." The remaining figure grinned wickedly, their teeth gleaming in the pale light. "Everything will start soon."

* * *

"Come on, Fletcher! We're going to be late for school!" Rylie exclaimed as she ran in place. First day of class they were two hours early. Second day and now they were going to be so late. That's what she got for letting Fletcher sleep in. Speaking of Fletcher, he wasn't beside her anymore. Where did he…?

Rylie stopped at the mouth of the alley—a shortcut—and cast a backwards glance.

Fletcher's foot was stuck in the pavement. He pulled at his leg, trying to free it, but just sunk further in. "It's not like I _wanted_ this to happen, Ry!"

Rylie sighed dramatically and walked over to him.

"Seriously, Fletcher, you need to keep doing those power exercises." She put a hand on his shoulder and turned him intangible, then pulled him out of the ground. "You're going to get yourself found out like this."

"I know, but the exercises are _boring_," Fletcher complained, scratching his head. "It's stuff I already _know_. I wanna be able to safely stick my head through a wall or something."

"You won't be doing that for a long—" Blue mist wafted out of Rylie's mouth and she shivered. "_Ghost_."

Fletcher groaned. "I _know_ what it means, Ry. Do we go and fight it?"

"Of course we do!" Rylie exclaimed. She transformed, her eyes set in a determined glare. Her voice gained an echo. Instead of a hazmat suit like her father liked, Rylie wore clothing made specially by her grandparents that would protect her from most ghost attacks. A black hoodie with white trimmings and dark jeans with white boots. A thigh holster held an ecto-gun to each leg. "Or, well, _I_ do. _You_ make sure civilians get out of the way."

A piercing shriek echoed down the street. Rylie's ears perked and she took off toward the noise, leaving Fletcher in the dust. She was almost there when something snarled in her ear, off to her left.

A large paw swatted her out of the sky. She slammed into the street and civilians scattered. At least they had the sense to leave and _not_ take pictures like people in Amity Park were wont to do. She gasped as her head smacked the cobblestone. Everything went fuzzy for a moment and her vision filled with green.

Rylie struggled to regain focus and gasped at the familiar green eyes glaring down at her.

"Wulf?" she gasped softly.

Wulf snarled, baring his teeth at her.

"_Where is the princess?_" he shouted in Esperanto. He didn't give Rylie a chance to respond, picking her up and tossing her down the street.

Rylie twisted in the air, tapping into her flight to try and right herself. She squeaked in surprise when she saw a pink-haired girl right in the middle of her path. "Watch out!" She cried a moment too late.

* * *

Kim Diehl and Jackie O. Lantern Dupre were taking their sweet time getting to school. Or at least Kim was and Jackie wasn't protesting. But as soon as Kim heard the scream, she bolted. She didn't call for Jackie to follow. She expected her weapon partner to be right behind her whether she said something or not.

What she didn't expect was for a glowing girl to yell "Watch out!" and then slam into her the second she rounded the corner.

They skidded across the road, the pavement scraping Kim's knees. She hissed in pain when they stopped.

"What the hell!" Kim shoved the girl off her. "What the hell was that for?"

"Sorry!" The girl floated—she _floated_. For a second, Kim thought she was a witch, but witches could feel each other, and this girl definitely didn't feel like one. The girl scanned the street with a frown. She looked panicked. "Where did he—"

Kim flinched at an ear-grating ripping nose. The girl threw her hands out and a green dome formed around them as an anthropomorphic wolf brought its claws down. They scratched the dome like nails on a chalkboard.

"I'd get out of here as soon as possible, if I were you," the girl said.

Kim stared at the girl, then at the wolf, then back to the girl. Kim was in the EAT class for a reason. She followed her studies, she did the extra readings, and she could recognize a ghost when she saw one. Even if she had never seen one in person before.

A slow grin spread across her face. If what the other witches said was right, Kim was about to make bank.

"You look like you could use some help," she said without an ounce of fear.

The girl pushed her arms out, forcing the shield—and the wolf—back. She looked over her shoulder at Kim, a relieved smile on her face. "Yeah, that'd be great, actually."

"Great! How much are you going to pay me?" Kim asked. Her smile turned smug, lips pressed together, eyebrows raised. Greed flashed in her eyes.

"Kim!"

Kim turned her head and saw Jackie running towards them. About time she caught up.

"Are you all right?" Jackie asked once she was close.

"I'm fine." Kim skimmed her fingers over her scrapes. She turned back to the ghost girl. "So, payment?"

"I don't have any human money," the girl said. "But I do have _Venoupp_, which is what ghosts use as currency. I believe they're supposed to be rare gems over on this side of the line?"

She fished out a red ruby from her pocket and tossed it to Kim.

Kim scrambled to her feet, catching the ruby in her palms. She stared at it, slack-jawed. For a second, it was almost like her eyes turned to money signs. She practically salivated over the jewel.

"Sold!" Kim shouted, stuffing the ruby in her pocket. Her greedy grin turned malicious. "Jackie, let's go!"

Jackie nodded and transformed, her weapon form that of a lamp with a chain attached.

"A warning about Wulf," the ghost girl said as the wolf clambered to its feet. "He can make portals between the ghost zone and the human realm. You don't want to get caught by his claws."

"Got it," Kim said, glaring at the wolf. Wulf. Wolf. She snorted.

* * *

"_I need to protect the princess!_" Wulf roared.

Kim, unable to understand him, wrinkled her nose at the shout. She raised Jackie, aiming at Wulf, and grabbed Jackie's chain.

"Drop the dome!" she shouted. She didn't wait for Rylie to respond, pulling sharply on the chain.

Rylie dropped the dome just in time, the energy slipping back into her palms as an explosive blast of fire soared past her. It surged toward Wulf and engulfed him.

He howled in pain as his fur caught fire. His glowing green gaze turned to Rylie and Kim, eyes narrowing.

"_Stop_!" He roared again, dropping to the ground and rolling against the stone to put out the flames. Hunched over on all fours, he snarled at the girls. His long claws clacked on the cobblestone. "_I need to_—"

"I'm right _here_, Wulf!" Rylie said. A small purple crown appeared over her head. It flowed like water, rippling in the air, sunlight shimmering on its fluctuating surface. Constantly moving, but contained.

"_You aren't the princess,_" Wulf said as he charged his paws with ecto-energy. "_You're just a clone, like the other one._"

Rylie faltered. "'Other one?' A clone?"

"Hey, I thought we were fighting, what's with all the chatter?" Kim asked. She pointed Jackie down and sent a burst of fire at the ground, launching herself into the air. Swinging Jackie around, Kim blasted herself toward Wulf.

Jackie cut the fire, Kim whirled around, and she fired again point blank in Wulf's face.

The explosion threw him backwards, down the street, and he landed with a thud on his back.

"He's a family friend. I don't know what's going on with him right now," Rylie said to Kim. "He's been looking for me but doesn't recognize that I'm right here."

"Some friend he is," Kim muttered.

Wulf stood, eyes narrowed, legs shaking as he panted. He glared at Kim. "_Return the princess to me, Plasmius!_"

Kim stuck her tongue out.

Beside her, Rylie frowned. She didn't know who Plasmius was, but he sounded like someone her father knew. She didn't have time to dwell on it, because Wulf started moving again. She flew forward and shot a weak blast at him, hoping to keep him down without hurting him.

Wulf slipped out of the ectoblast's path, swiping at Rylie as he passed under her. He missed and dove for Kim instead, slashing his claws down at her.

Kim raised her arms to protect her face and jumped back. Wulf's claws sliced her arm. She winced and cupped the scratches.

"This girl owes me," she said to Jackie.

"She gave you a _ruby_," Jackie replied.

Rylie swooped down and bombarded Wulf with ectoblasts, pushing him away from Kim and Jackie. Why didn't he recognize her? She didn't want to fight him, she just wanted him to stop.

Wulf snarled and snapped his jaws, more animalistic than he usually behaved. Rylie's barrage came too fast for him to defend himself. The blasts exploded against his face, his chest, pushing him further back each time.

Rylie pressed her hands together, pushing ectoplasm between her palms until she had an ectoblast as big as her head. She threw it down at Wulf.

Just before it landed, he collapsed on the ground, out cold. Rylie's attack exploded harmlessly against the street. She gaped at Wulf.

"Nice work," Kim called. She squeezed her bleeding arm with one hand and cast a glance around the street. The sooner she got out of sight, the sooner she could take care of injury.

Rylie landed beside Kim, eyeing Kim's cut arm with concern, and shook her head. "That wasn't—"

"Oh, _butter biscuits_." A disembodied voice hissed. It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "It looks like father's invention didn't work as well as he had intended. That doesn't matter, though."

A tanned teen with dark grey hair appeared, wearing a turtleneck and black leggings. His eyes glowed like coal, watching both Kim and Rylie. He held Fletcher, in his human form, by the back of his shirt. Fletcher was unconscious, but otherwise unharmed.

Rylie bristled, her eyes glowing brighter as she hissed lowly. Maybe this boy was related to the Plasmius person Wulf mentioned. She didn't really care. All that mattered was that he did something to Wulf, and now he had Fletcher in his grasp. Her obsession flared.

How _dare_ he harm her friends.

"Put him down!" she commanded.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Are you really sure you want me to do that?"

"Wait, wait, you know that kid?" Kim asked. She recognized Fletcher as one of the new EAT students. It wasn't common for someone to join the EAT class over the summer, much less anyone who wasn't already attending DWMA.

Kim had slated the two new students as strangers to watch out for. The worry on Rylie's face now was as clear as day.

"Of course!" Rylie snapped. "He's my best friend, how could I not know him?!"

"Wasn't that supposed to be a secret, _Princess Phantom_?" The teen snickered.

"Oh, you be quiet, you don't tell me—Oh… _Oh…_" Rylie groaned. "That _was_ supposed to be a secret. Crap."

"You're Rylie," Kim deadpanned. Now that she made the connection, it seemed obvious. Swap out the hair and eye colour, take away the glow, and the ghost girl would be the spitting image of the other new student. "Of course you are, why wouldn't you be? This is Death City, nothing here is a coincidence."

She shook her head and rubbed her face. Honestly, she wasn't even surprised. Kim had her own secrets, the rest of the class might as well have theirs.

"Whatever, I don't care," Kim said. She pointed Jackie at the boy she didn't know. "Leave my classmates alone, or else!"

"I can't do that," he said, tossing Fletcher at Rylie. "You see, my father wants her. And I can't fail him."

Rylie caught Fletcher, placing him on the ground gently before glaring at the teen.

"Yeah? Well tell your father that _my_ father will throw him to the Ancients for this," she said, clenching her fists tightly.

"We'll see about that, _Princess_."

Rylie's eyebrow twitched. She could stand Wulf calling her a princess, but this kid did it just to piss her off. And it was working.

"Too bad for you, I've already been paid, so I guess I better live up to the deal," Kim said. Darting forward, she swung Jackie around, yanking on the chain and letting loose a stream of fire at the teen.

He turned intangible, letting the fire pass harmlessly through him. He floated towards her, a smirk dancing on his lips. "You should just leave this between the princess and I, girlie. I don't want to have to hurt someone as pretty as you."

"Excuse you!" Kim sneered. "It's fifty bucks to flirt with me!"

Rylie slammed into the teen, her intangibility interfering with his, and he gasped. They both went down. Grabbing his arms, Rylie pushed volts of ecto-electricity through him, forcing him to turn tangible. They grappled, each one struggling to gain the upperhand.

Hovering on the edge of the fight, Kim gritted her teeth. None of her attacks were fine-tuned enough to hit the enemy without also risking Rylie. _If_ Kim could even hit him in the first place. She raised Jackie anyway, ready to blast the second Rylie and the teen separated.

Rylie knew what she had to do. Or she _hoped_ she did. After seeing some of Kim's attacks, a plan started forming in her head. She did this with her dad and Fletcher all the time, it was time to bait the enemy.

Rylie relaxed her hold, giving the teen the leverage he needed to flip them over so he was on top. He smirked confidently. His mistake. Rylie shocked him again.

Eyes blown wide and body rigid, the teen couldn't defend himself when Rylie kicked him in the chest and launched him into the air. She pulled her legs back in, quickly forming a shield over her body.

And leaving the teen dazed and open to attack.

Kim grinned and ripped Jackie's chain back, lighting up the sky.

There was a garbled scream of pain as the teen fell out of the air. Crashing to the ground with a _splat_, he started to _melt_ on the pavement.

"Holy shit." Kim stumbled back in surprise, staring at the boy that was _melting_ before her eyes. Ghost or not, that was a freaky thing to see. "You're seeing this too, right, Jackie?"

"Yeah." Jackie's voice shook slightly.

Rylie got up, moving toward the teen quickly. She could still stop this, help him. She didn't want him to _die_. Her hands glowed a light green, hovering over him. "You need to get back to the zone before you completely destabilize—"

He grabbed her hand, charging his own with red ecto-energy. It burned with the intensity of a fire and seared her hand. He forced her back with a growl. "I don't _need_ your charity."

"But you're melting!" Rylie said, clutching her hand and taking a slow step towards him, as if he were a wounded animal.

"Better to die than to go back to father empty handed." The teen closed his eyes. "There will be more. Stronger than I was. More stable. Beware of the Phantom clones, young Princess."

He melted into a puddle of green goo. Rylie couldn't tear her gaze away.

"That was… interesting," Kim said. It wasn't everyday you saw someone liquify in the middle of the street. In fact, she was pretty sure most people would never see anything like that, ever.

Death City was just weird like that.

Kim looked at Rylie's horrified and confused expression. Her gaze slipped to the burn on Rylie's hand. She sighed, holding out Jackie and giving her space to transform.

"We already missed half the class, no point going now. You take Fletcher, we should get off the main street," Kim said.

Jackie nodded and picked Fletcher up, holding him bridal style.

Kim touched Rylie's shoulder. "Hey. Follow me."

"A–Alright," Rylie said softly. She had never seen a ghost destabilize before, no one had ever rejected her help like that before. "Let me just grab Wulf."

She reached for the Fenton Thermos that was hooked to her belt, unscrewing the cap. Pointing the open device at the werewolf ghost, she pressed the _capture_ button and sucked Wulf inside. She would let him out later, when she was alone.

Kim grabbed Rylie's injured arm, just above the burn, and pulled her toward a nearby alley. She didn't stop walking until they were well within the shadows, too far in for any passersby to see them without stopping and staring.

Kim glanced at Jackie, giving her a meaningful look.

Jackie nodded, set Fletcher down, and turned to watch the entrance of the alley.

"What're we doing in here?" Rylie asked softly.

"Lots of people think ghosts are evil and out to get you. It would probably suck for you if the fact that you're a ghost got out, right?" Kim said. She hummed and tapped her chin. "It's gonna cost a lot to get me to keep my mouth shut."

Rylie's breath hitched, the color draining from her face. She looked so terrified, so scared. Her hands grasped at her head as she started to panic. "I–I have more—"

"_But_," Kim continued, cutting Rylie off. "I guess it's a good thing you have leverage over me, too."

She wrapped her hands around Rylie's burn, taking a deep breath and focusing on her magic. Warmth spread through her fingers, a soft golden light spreading across Rylie's hand. Kim closed her eyes, letting the magic run its course until it completely healed Rylie's burn.

"I get it." Kim opened her eyes. "Just because people _think_ you're evil doesn't mean you _are_."

She healed her own cuts and the scrapes on her knees. Rylie stared at her the whole time, making Kim fidget uncomfortably.

"... You're like my mom," Rylie finally said, a grin spreading across her face. It wasn't filled with malice, but with _admiration_. Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she changed back to human. She heard a groan as Fletcher started to wake up, but ignored him for the moment. "Thank you."

"Yeah, whatever," Kim muttered, blushing and looking away. She grabbed Rylie's healed hand and started pulling her along again. "But I healed you, so you still owe me! Forget school, you're buying me ice cream."

Rylie smiled and laughed, pulling out her wallet. "That's fair," Rylie said. "What flavor?"

Kim bit her lip, thinking of the ruby in her pocket. And that dazzling smile Rylie had just _given_ her for nothing. Rylie owed Kim big time for somehow convincing her to expose herself without actually doing anything.

Forget being evil, Rylie should be feared for her purity.

Kim loved it.

"Every flavor!" she shouted, marching off toward the closest ice cream shop with Jackie and Fletcher in tow.

* * *

The wind whipped through Rylie's hair as she floated above Death City. From so high in the air she could see everything. The school. Gallows. Her and Fletcher's apartment. Being in the air was relaxing for this very reason.

The moon beamed down at her, her snow white locks glowing even brighter. The metal sheen of the thermos glowed under the moon as she uncapped it and pressed _release_.

The bright white beam of light could be seen throughout the City, to whoever was paying attention. It coalesced into a tall, anthropomorphic form, his core energy strengthening.

Wulf stood tall and proud, his eyes holding none of the aggression from earlier. "_Princess_?" He bowed his head respectfully.

"Oh thank Ancients, Wulf." Rylie sighed in relief, putting her smaller hand on his larger paw. "_Do you remember anything from this morning?_"

"_I remember Plasmius…_" He suddenly snarled, head whipping around. He pulled Rylie close to his chest, as if he was going to protect her. "_Where is he!?_"

"_Where is_ who,_ Wulf_?" she asked. "_I don't know who Plasmius is!_"

He didn't calm down. "_One of your father's enemies. Another half ghost. He wants the throne. He wants to study you because your halves are stable—more stable than his or your fathers._"

"_So he's the one who made you attack us and then sent that clone,_" she mused. "_Why are you here, anyways? Not that I'm not glad to see you, it's just… You kinda made me skip class, Wulf._"

"_I'm sorry, Princess. Your father asked me to watch after you._"

"I should have realized." She sighed again. "_You have to be careful, Wulf. I'm going to a school where everyone will be able to sense your presence even though you're invisible._"

Wulf hugged his niece and licked her cheek.

"_I know, Princess,_" he said. "_You should get some rest. You need to explain to your instructors why you were late today, and you won't be able to do that if you're asleep!_"

He ruffled Rylie's hair.

"Wuuuuulf!" she exclaimed.

* * *

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, and followed! After working so long on this story, it's awesome to finally get to share it. Something I forgot to mention last time: this story is told in an episodic style.**

**Hope you liked the second chapter! Let us know what you thought!**

**—Unlucky Alis**

**You forgot to mention the tumblr. Souls-and-ectoplasm! We've also got a discord server up, message us on Tumblr (Laz provides our mains below), on Ao3, or message our joint account on for the link! We're keeping it private to keep those pesky spam bots away.**

**—AndieZIR**

**You can also follow our Tumblr mains kinglazrus (or unluckyalis) and andiezir**

**—Alis**

**Also, if you find dialogue like the end of the chapter, "where most of it is like this," that's because we decided that it was easier to do away with using ghost speak and Esperanto in the chapter. Italics like that means they're speaking another language unless otherwise specified.**

**— Andie**

**Update: Torin again. Just some contact info updates this time. I changed from andiezir to zir-ghostly and I also have a Soul Eater/general anime blog s0uleatblr. You can also find me on Twitter using that, but I don't like using Twitter.**


	3. Lessons

**Lessons**

As Stein's first lesson as homeroom teacher came to a close, he sat at his desk and watched his students gather their books. He turned the screw in his head while he thought. He couldn't say how proficient his students were after just one lesson. Every experiment relied on trial and error, testing and retesting. One lesson was hardly enough to give him reliable results.

For a moment, Stein focused on the students that participated in the remedial lesson. They had done well, and he found himself eager to teach them. They intrigued him, Spirit's daughter in particular. The child of a meister _and_ a weapon who awakened her Soul Perception in the midst of the lesson. She was someone worth watching.

And she wasn't the only one.

Stein's attention shifted to two of DWMA's newest students: Rylie Fenton and Fletcher Attwater. Both of whom were supposed to attend yesterday's remedial lesson, so he could assess their abilities. But they ended up skipping the entire day. From what Stein heard, Kim and Jackie also skipped class yesterday. He doubted it was a coincidence.

Stein felt a familiar itch rise from deep within him. The desire to observe, experiment, _dissect_. He was one of the few privy to Rylie and Fletcher's ghostly attributes and they fascinated him. He wanted to know how their physiologies worked. Human and ghost coexisting seamlessly in one form. Not to mention human, ghost, and weapon.

If Lord Death would just give him _five minutes_ with the Attwater boy...

Stein shook his head. The headmaster would never allow it, never mind the pesky morality that came with studying a self-aware subject. He could already here Spirit's griping.

He would just have to make do with their makeup lesson, for now.

"Rylie, Fletcher, please stay after class," Stein said as the students started filing out.

He watched Rylie's ears twitch at her name. A slight perking, only noticeable if you were watching for it, and rather cat-like. Interesting.

Stein wondered if she had an inkling of what he wanted them for. She didn't look distressed. More resigned than anything, like she was used to staying after class.

Fletcher, on the other hand, looked like he was expecting the worst. He swallowed nervously, clung to the straps of his book bag, and hid behind Rylie. Stein noted the wary look in his eyes and frowned.

"Alright, Professor," Rylie said with a smile. She pulled Fletcher in for a quick hug.

Stein waited until it was just him and his two troublesome students in the room. He pushed away from the desk, wheelie chair sliding across the tiles, and rolled to the middle of the room. Rylie and Fletcher hadn't moved from their seats yet, and Stein smirked. Kicking the ground, he started spinning in circles.

"You missed your remedial lesson yesterday," Stein said. He glimpsed Rylie and Fletcher exchanging a glance as his chair spun. The next time around, they were standing, and Rylie worried her lip.

"Remedial lesson?" she asked in confusion. "No one told us about there being a remedial lesson yesterday."

Stein planted his feet, halting his spinning. He was facing the wall. Slowly, he turned to face the duo.

"They would have, if you had attended class at all yesterday. But you skipped." He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "I don't know what your experience is with other schools, but here that's grounds for expulsion."

Rylie paled significantly while Fletcher ducked further behind her. Evidently, they had ditched without considering they could be expelled.

"W—We were going to come, Professor, honestly we were. But there was a," Rylie shivered and her breath fogged, "situation."

"A situation my ass, that was a full blown ghost fight," Fletcher muttered under his breath, a bit ticked about yesterday's happenings.

Stein pretended not to hear Fletcher's comment—he probably wasn't meant to in the first place. But he wanted to test something.

"Interesting," he mused. "On your first day of lessons you are faced with an unexpected situation and, rather than reporting to your teachers, you decide to handle it yourself."

Stein turned his screw again, observing Rylie and Fletcher's souls. They had an interesting appearance. One half their personal colour—purple in Rylie's case—and the other half toxic green. The two sides didn't blend, but there was a jagged line down the middle where they met.

During class, Rylie had been quiet and attentive, a seemingly good student. But he could see a few less than stellar traits lurking in her soul. Fletcher, ironically, had a purer soul.

"Such reckless behaviour could be your undoing. Maybe you _should_ be expelled before you get yourself—and others—hurt," Stein said.

Stein expected Rylie to flounder and try to cover for herself, but she didn't. Instead, she sighed, glanced to the side, and said something in a language Stein couldn't understand.

As if on cue—and it probably was—a large anthropomorphic wolf appeared in the middle of the room. At least as tall as Stein when standing, or maybe even a little taller, the wolf did not look happy. Its ears lay flat against its head.

"Someone used Wulf, one of my dad's friends, to try and hurt me," she said. "When my ghost sense went off, I had to go check what was up. As a trained ghost hunter, it's my duty to protect the innocent from any ghost meaning to cause harm. It was unexpected but not something I don't normally deal with, sir."

Stein grinned. He loved it when he got unexpected results. And the _ghost_. Animalistic for sure, but it reminded him of werewolves of lore. Questions ran through Stein's head. What had this 'Wulf' been before it died? A man or an intelligent beast? Or perhaps an actual werewolf?

Soul Perception couldn't read a ghost's core the same way it could read a living soul. Although Stein suspected someone like Rylie, or the Death Gods, could.

If Wulf hadn't been a werewolf, what happened to its soul to make it this way when it died? Could other animals, like a household cat, become ghosts? Did dying bring a boot of intelligence that lead to an altered form? Or maybe Death himself was responsible for the change.

As he observed the ghost, Stein remembered the puff of frosted air that Rylie breathed out moments ago. What a fascinating way for a ghost sense to manifest itself, but also fairly noticeable.

"It's time for your makeup lesson!" Stein announced.

Rylie nodded. "Alright. What do we have to do, Professor?"

Stein smiled at the determined glint in her eye. Fletcher's worried frown made him grin wider.

"You only need to do one thing," he said.

Stein moved, fast, too fast for Rylie or Fletcher to see. His wheelie chair flew back, crashing against the wall as he reappeared in front of Fletcher. Grabbing Fletcher's arm, Stein swung him around, tossing the boy into Rylie, and sent them both crashing to the floor.

Stein stared down at them with a mad glint and cracked his neck. "Survive."

* * *

The air flew from Rylie's lungs when Fletcher landed on her chest. He lay on top of her in a daze. Neither one of them expected the sudden attack.

"_Princess!_" Wulf exclaimed. His gaze snapped to Stein and he growled as his claws slid out.

Fletcher clambered off Rylie, giving her a hand, and they both looked at Stein.

Rylie didn't know what to do. She always followed the rules, and fighting a teacher didn't fit that. But her instincts, and every past experience, told her she should fight back.

Stein lunged again, this time reaching for Rylie. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and slammed her back against the ground. Lashing out with his feet, he kicked Fletcher's ankles, throwing him off balance.

"How should I cut you open?" Stein asked. He prodded Rylie's collar bone. "A simple 'Y' incision for you. Maybe something more focused for your partner."

Rylie's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes flared green and she turned invisible, then sank through the floor.

"How about we don't?" she said, her voice echoing through the room.

Moving through the floor was as easy as swimming. She resurfaced next to Fletcher and turned solid. She dragged him upright. She didn't take her eyes of Stein.

"I mean, we could, but I'd rather not. I kinda like my body the way it is."

The good student was gone. Rylie's powers lingered just beneath her skin, ready for her to latch on and whip out at a moment's notice if Stein attacked again.

Wulf snarled and bared his fangs. Without a second thought, he lunged with his claws outstretched. No one would harm Rylie if he had anything to say about it. He should have worried more about himself.

Stein rounded on Wulf.

"Two Palm Soul Menace, Twin Spear!" he said, striking Wulf in the chest with his palms. A powerful soul pulse ripped through Stein's hands and attacked Wulf's very core.

Wulf cried out as the blast launched him back. He struck the wall, slid down to the floor, and didn't get up.

"Wulf!" Rylie shouted, her eyes wide. Her gaze went to Stein, who looked completely unrepentant.

"Ah, shit," she muttered. She needed to defend herself. She had two options. Transform and try to end this quickly, or use Fletcher. One of those options could out her to the rest of the school. "Fletch?"

"Got it." Fletcher nodded. He started to glow, breaking into light and reforming in Rylie's hands as a longbow.

Stein watched their souls as Fletcher transformed. They were well matched, with their ghost and human halves on opposite sides. Between them, they had a full ghost and a full human soul. Stein hypothesized they could only ever be partners with each other. No other meister or weapon could handle the ghostly half of their souls.

Rather than attacking immediately once again, Stein stood back and waited for them to make the first move. He wanted to see how well they fought together before moving on to the next stage of the lesson.

Rylie grabbed Fletcher's string, her hand glowing blue. The temperature around her dropped rapidly. Ice was easier to make constructs out of compared to ectoplasm. Her eyes glowed with rage.

As she drew back the string, an arrow of ice formed at her fingertips, perfectly nocked. Her eyes narrowed in concentration

She nocked an ice arrow, eyes narrowing in concentration as she pulled back the string and fired. While she didn't have the accuracy of her grandmother, she wasn't a pushover either. And she certainly wouldn't be holding back next time.

This was just a warning shot.

Stein dodged the projectile with ease and frowned. He knew Rylie could do better, if the reports left by her father were anything to go by. Either her father had been lying, or she was purposefully holding back. How disappointing.

He charged.

Rylie jumped away, higher and farther than the average person was able. She formed and fired three more ice arrows in quick succession, then turned invisible. She needed to keep her distance. Stein wasn't like some of her dad's enemies, not by a long shot.

As soon as she disappeared from sight, Stein finally felt a hint of approval. He already knew Rylie would be comfortable fighting with her abilities, but the real challenge was combining them with her meister capabilities. She had the potential to develop a unique and powerful style.

But there was always one glaring disadvantage when fighting another meister.

Stein zeroed in on Rylie's soul, visible to his perception even when she was not. Acting fast, before Rylie realized Stein could see her, he aimed a lesser Soul Menace blast directly at her soul.

It struck her dead on.

Rylie's core pulsed when the attack hit and she turned visible. The shock coursed through her body. It was painful, but she pushed through it, readjusting her grip on Fletcher.

"You alright?" Fletcher asked. He stared at her from his reflection on the metal grip.

"_Just peachy,_" she muttered in Ghost Speak. Her voice sounded like static. She tried to make another set of arrows, but the ice refused to form.

Stein's attacked shorted out her powers.

Fletcher could feel Rylie's frustration through their resonance.

"I got this," he said. Reaching through their connection, he compressed Rylie's wavelength into a glowing arrow. Rylie drew the string back and let the arrow loose.

Stein approved of their quick teamwork and recovery. If that was he was watching for today, they would pass the test quickly. But it wasn't.

After all, stuck in the classroom they were deprived of the risks they'd face outside the school, when there would be witnesses. Stein wasn't as concerned about Fletcher on that front. As a weapon, he had fewer opportunities to expose himself, but Rylie wasn't so lucky.

Stein went at them with another Soul Menace. This time, aiming for Fletcher.

Rylie threw a shield between them, but Stein's attack broke right through it. He grabbed Fletcher's upper limb and released the pulse. It travelled through the bow and shocked Rylie's hand, making her let go.

Fletcher clattered to the ground and reverted to his human form. Just like Wulf, he was down for the count.

"Fletcher!" Rylie shouted, balling her hands into fists. She had promised him that she would protect him.

_You could have prevented this and you know it_, a voice said in her head. _You're holding yourself back because he's human. But he started it, he's not holding back. _

She shook her head, casting the thoughts aside. She wouldn't use her powers like that, not if she could help it. That being said, she needed to do something fast. She could feel her powers returning from Stein's first attack, and the second hadn't done any lasting damage.

Frost gathered at her feet, ice shooting out across the floor as she tried to mess with Stein's surroundings. But he was faster than her ice. Once again, quicker than she could see, Stein darted forward. She only caught sight of him when stopped a foot away, swinging his leg around and kicking her in the chest.

He blasted another Soul Menace off his foot so she couldn't go intangible.

Rylie went flying. She smacked into the closed classroom door, then burst through it, crashing into the wall in the hallway. She nearly fell flat on her face, but managed to catch herself at the last second. Pushing herself to her feet, she looked around and realized she didn't have the safety of the classroom anymore.

Shit. Even if her powers returned soon, she couldn't use them. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

_Tch. If only you had listened, _the voice said.

_Oh, shut up, _she replied.

Stein didn't give Rylie a chance to catch her breath. He charged through the door after her and kicked her thigh, throwing her off balance. As she stumbled, Stein punched her in the gut. She folded around his fist and was met with a knee to the face.

Rylie's head snapped up and her hands flew to her bloody—and possibly broken—nose. She tore her hands away, scrambling to defend herself from the onslaught, but Stein wasn't having it.

Ignoring the students and teachers peering through open doorways, who were attracted by Rylie's shouts, Stein hit Rylie with a palm-strike to the chest. She gasped, the air forced out of her lungs, and reeled back. Stein jabbed her in the throat.

Rylie heaved as she tried to breathe, black spots filling her vision, and a horrible, croaking wheeze leaving her throat.

Stein pulled his arm back, curling his hand into a fist, and delivered one last punch. A shovel punch up under her ribs, a perfect liver shot.

Rylie was blinded by pain. Her body went limp. Unable to hold herself up, she collapsed. It felt like electricity coursed through her veins and she rasped in pain.

_Y'know what, it's my turn now, _the voice said. _You're going to get yourself killed at this rate. And I'm not gonna let you kill us both._

_No, _Rylie responded. _I can't even _stand _let alone fight. And you can't expose us both. We're done._

She let out a croak. _Damn _that hurt. Her arms and legs felt like jelly. She wasn't getting up any time soon.

Stein stalked forwards and stopped by Rylie's head. He stared down at her, cocking his head to the side and turning his screw, the ominous clicking filling the quiet hall. The bystanders had fallen silent.

One of them didn't stay quiet for long.

"Rylie!" someone shouted. A terrified-looking Danny Fenton pushed past the crowd, running toward his daughter.

The students scattered.

"Oh _Ancients_, I should have never let you come here," Danny muttered. He knelt down and took Ryile's hand.

"Mr. Fenton, what brings you here?" Stein asked, taking a step back from the father and daughter.

"Work," Danny snapped as he picked her up. "What the _hell _was that for?"

"She skipped class yesterday, and her remedial lessons. Since she joined later than most, she's already behind on her lessons. Consider this motivation not to fall further behind," Stein explained. He leaned down, watching Danny closely.

How astounding. Being this close to such a powerful ghost, Stein wanted to remember every detail. If he couldn't dissect the Ghost King, he could at least drink his fill of such an interesting specimen through observation. The circumstances were unexpected, but it gave Stein the perfect opportunity to study a ghost's—or half ghost's—reaction to their young being injured.

Danny shook his head, holding Rylie as close as he could.

"No," he said, eyes flaring green for a moment. He needed to stay calm. Giving Stein the scary eyes wouldn't solve anything.

Rylie groaned. She felt like she had been hit by a truck. She _definitely _wouldn't be skipping again. She mumbled something incoherent, burying her face in her father's jacket.

"No?" Stein asked. He was itching to reach for his marker and plot out the incision points. Above the temple, around the cranium, expose the brain. But he couldn't, not in the middle of the school at least.

"You don't punch a _kid _in the liver," Danny deadpanned, his expression grave. "I realize that an enemy won't hold back, but you crossed a line."

"During yesterday's lesson, the one Rylie was supposed to attend, one of her classmates took a direct pulse shot from me to the head and survived," Stein said. "An attack like that does more damage than a simple gut punch, and those are the kind of attacks a full-fledged meister can expect to face. I understand your concern, but I _was_ holding back."

Danny closed his eyes and took a breath. They could handle this better where there weren't onlookers. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching at this particular moment.

"Wulf," he said.

Wulf appeared at Danny's side, his fur ruffled and his glow a little dull. He hadn't fully recovered from Stein's brutal attack yet, but he was well enough.

"_Take her to her apartment. Make sure she gets rest_," Danny said.

Wulf nodded, glaring at Stein. He cradled Rylie in one paw, holding her close as he tore open a portal. "_I don't trust him, friend._"

"I know, bud. You aren't the only one." Danny sighed.

Wulf jumped through without another word, closing the portal behind him.

"She has more classes today," Stein said. He had no intentions of making her go. A liver shot _was_ a serious hit for a purely physical fight. Forcing her to push through it would be cruel. But he wanted to see how Danny would act now that Rylie was gone.

Danny started making his way to the Death Room. He still had his meeting with Lord Death to attend.

"_If_ she feels like she can get up, she can come back. You did a lot of damage," he said to Stein over his shoulder, his tone ice cold.

The response bored Stein immensely.

Stein was quickly losing interest. He could see, in the twitch of Danny's eyebrow and the clench of his jaw, that Danny was furious, but so far his expression of that fury was rather boring. Not every experiment could have thrilling results, but Stein hoped for a little more from the Ghost King himself.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Stein followed Danny. He spared a glance at a mirror as they passed it. Like yesterday's remedial lesson, Lord Death had been watching this one as well. Stein needed to give him a verbal assessment of Rylie and Fletcher's abilities.

"Oh," he said, suddenly remembering Fletcher was still unconscious on his classroom floor. He grabbed the shoulder of the nearest student. Kim Diehl, how appropriate.

"Make sure the boy in that classroom is alright. Help him to the infirmary if he needs it."

"Okay, professor!" she chirped cheerily.

Stein smirked. One quick glance at her soul and he knew it was all an act. Interesting. Very interesting.

* * *

Danny stormed toward the Death Room, a father on a warpath. He didn't care about all the looks he was getting. He was furious, beyond furious. How could Lord Death have—

He shook his head. There was no use getting angry at Lord Death, Stein was the one who went overboard. And the man was still following him. A few paces behind, at what Danny supposed was a respectful distance, but he didn't like how Stein kept looking at him. Analyzing him. With a strange sort of reverence Danny knew wasn't actually aimed at him.

Danny shoved the doors to the Death Room open and stalked up the guillotine path, his gaze firmly fixed ahead. When he caught sight of the platform, he was surprised to see Kid there as well, and wondered how much of the fight he'd seen.

Probably a lot, since Danny couldn't think of a time he'd ever seen Kid so mad.

He held himself ramrod straight, shoulders set, feet firmly planted, but his whole body trembled and his face twisted into an ugly scowl. Danny recognized that look. It was the kind of look someone gave when they were trying very hard not to punch someone in the face.

"Hiya!" Lord Death chimed as Danny and Stein approached the platform.

Danny folded his arms across his chest.

"Anyone wanna tell me who thought that would be a good idea?" he asked. "Couldn't you have, like, asked Sid? Or anyone who wouldn't have gone overboard?"

Lord Death swayed from side to side.

Danny wondered how much Lord Death's movements was meant to compensate for his lack of facial expressions. Somehow, he managed to make such a simple motion look contemplative.

"Following his death and reanimation, Sid is no longer a teacher at the DWMA," Death explained after a brief pause. "Dr. Stein is his replacement as the homeroom teacher for Rylie's class. Because of that, it was important that he personally assess her abilities.

"'Assess her abilities,'" Kid hissed, rounding on Lord Death. "I'm sorry, father, but that was hardly an assessment. Rylie had no opportunity to fight back!"

"Oh," Stein said, looking at Kid with a grin. "I see, that _is_ intriguing. I didn't realize Death Gods could fall in love."

Kid spluttered, his face turning red. He quickly covered the uneven blush with his hands. "I have no idea what you mean!"

For a moment, Danny focused on Kid. He caught Kid's eyes through his fingers and gave him a _look_. A serious, maybe overprotective, fatherly look that Danny would give to anyone who had any interest in _his_ baby girl.

Kid didn't look away.

"Give me one good reason to not blast you," Danny said, turning his attention back to Stein.

"I figured out where your daughter's fighting skills are lacking," Stein said. "She could have avoided all of my hits if she turned herself intangible for a brief moment. If she focused only on where I was aiming, she could have managed it without catching anyone's attention. But the moment we were out in the open, she gave up on using her powers. Holding back like that could get someone killed one day."

"Well I'm sorry she has a sense of self-preservation. You don't realize how badly this secret getting out could end," he snapped. He transformed, feet lifting off the platform as he rose up above Stein.

"Wait, of course you do, you're probably thinking of all the ways you could experiment with me right now." Danny's hands charged with energy and the crown on his head flared brighter. "Her mother and I have been teaching her all we can so she can defend herself in both forms. She's still learning."

Stein gave him a deadpan stare. "That's fine, but in this profession there will always come a time when the fight is infinitely more important than whatever secrets you, or anyone else, are holding close. It's a lesson best learned early, before lives are at risk."

"And when that day comes, she will have no problem doing that," Danny said. "But in a fight with her teacher? You can't seriously believe that she would just out herself like that! The only reason she even knows how to use her powers offensively is because the Guys in White almost caught her!"

"Excellent!" Stein grinned. "That's precisely my point, I'm glad you agree. Of course she wouldn't expose herself fighting me, that would be stupid. And now she knows she needs to find a way to fight, in the open, using her abilities without exposing herself. If she can manage that, she'll be a very powerful meister."

Without warning, Danny blasted Stein.

Stein flew off the platform, slamming into the dusty ground and rolling for some distance before he slammed into one of the larger crosses.

"That was for breaking her nose and the liver shot," Danny said.

"You held back too much," Kid muttered under his breath.

"Well then!" Lord Death interrupted, clapping his hands. "This is a very productive start to our meeting!"

He turned to Danny. "I think we can leave Stein to pick himself back up. How about we get on to the meeting?"

Danny nodded, then looked at Kid.

"I had Wulf bring Rylie to her apartment, if you want to see her," he said. He had suspected there was something going on his daughter and her best friend for a while now. It didn't mean he had to like it, but he wouldn't stop it either.

* * *

As Kid came upon Rylie's apartment, he heard a loud thud, followed by a cry of pain and a call of, "_Princess!_"

It was one of the only Esperanto words he knew, despite knowing Wulf for years. Primarily because he shouted it every time Rylie got into trouble. Which she definitely shouldn't be doing while recovering.

Kid slammed the apartment door open, breaking the drywall as he did, and rushed into the main room. "Rylie!"

"Down here," came Rylie's response. She groaned, laying on the floor next to the coffee table. She looked a lot better than when Kid last saw. Her nose had been reset, medical tape and gauze over the split in the skin, and all the blood was cleaned from her face.

Thinking of the fight made Kid feel a strange flare of… of _something_ he couldn't quite place. It was more than anger or protectiveness, but that's all he could feel about it.

Bracing herself against the table, Rylie pushed herself up, holding her gut. She looked at Kid and gave him a shaky thumbs up and a small smile.

He was not placated.

Sighing, Kid pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd hoped Rylie would do the smart thing and rest, but apparently that was expecting too much. With a shake of his head, he strode over to Rylie, slipped one arm under knees, the other around her shoulders, and scooped her into his arms.

Perfectly straight faced, he walked over to the couch, held his arms out, and dumped Rylie—_gently_—over the back and onto the cushions.

"You should be resting," he said.

She tried to push herself up into a sitting position. "I'm mostly _fine _now," her voice cracked from pain, "and I don't need to rest, I have things I need to do for my classes and I need to start scheduling—"

Kid vaulted over the couch, landing on the edge of the cushion, and leaned back, trapping Rylie against the couch.

"No," he said, crossing his arms and getting comfortable. In their reflection on the TV, he saw Rylie blush. She squirmed, trying to shimmy out from under him. He leaned back even more.

"S-Seriously, I-I'm fine, Kid," she stuttered. "I-I can't just… Do nothing."

"You're right, you shouldn't do nothing. You should rest, which is doing something." Kid glanced along the couch, eyeing the distance between him and each armrest. He shifted over slightly so he was sitting in the exact middle. "I'm not beyond informing all the teachers to send you home immediately if they see you tomorrow. In fact, a full day of rest would be good. I can take notes for you."

"_Tomorrow!?_" Rylie sputtered. "You can't be serious, Kid, I have a healing factor, I'll be fine by tomorrow!"

She paused, digesting the rest of his words. "And take notes, you're not even in the class how would you... you're a student now, aren't you?"

Kid pursed his lips and crossed his arms, staring at the wall straight ahead. "I volunteered to assist the remedial students when they were in a perilous situation. My father said only students could interfere, so Liz, Patty and I enrolled."

He coughed into his hand and glanced away.

"Although I didn't exactly get to the students on time. Or… at all. I was speaking to my father about it when I saw your," he frowned, "assessment."

Rylie went quiet.

For a moment, Kid thought she was giving in. But when he looked at her, she had a serious expression on her face. She looked uncertain, her eyebrows drawing tighter together as her eyes flitted back and forth.

"I… I need to ask you something. It's really important." Her voice was soft, unsure.

Kid sat up straight. "Yes?"

Rylie rubbed her arm nervously and looked at the rug. "Did… Did you know there was another half ghost?"

"Of course I do," Kid said immediately and frowned. "You didn't?"

He thought for sure that someone would have mentioned it to Rylie. Especially considering how few halfas existed. He looked over the couch and Wulf and raised an eyebrow.

Wulf said something in Esperanto, and Kid cursed his lack of fluency. He caught the word princess, and possibly father, but that was it.

Whatever Wulf said, it got a strong reaction out of Rylie. She lurched upright and Kid had to push her down again.

"But I _do _worry about whoever this _Plasmius _is, Wulf!" Rylie said. "He's cloning my dad! He hurt you! He wants me for… for whatever reason! And you and my dad haven't been the most _helpful _in telling me anything about him!"

Her eyes flashed. "'Don't worry about him, Ryles, he's trapped in the Ghost Zone.' Bullshit."

"Rylie, language," Kid chastised, in the same tone he admonished Liz whenever she left her more amorous books out anywhere Patty could find them.

Kid's eyes widened as he realized what Rylie had actually said. "Wait, Plasmius? You meant _him_?"

She blinked at Kid.

"Are there any _more _half ghosts I need to know about?" she asked. "Because one evil half ghost bent on cloning my dad and catching me is enough, thank you very much!"

"That's just Plasmius." Kid shook his head. Unbelievable. He'd known about Plasmius for so long, it was part of a Death God's duty to be able to recognize unique souls. He just assumed that of course Rylie would know about him too. "Has your dad never mentioned him?"

Rylie shook her head. "I… I don't know why…"

She sat up, at a sensible pace this time, and pulled her knees to her chest. She stared intently at Kid. "Tell me everything you know about Plasmius."


	4. The Other Type of Soul

**The Other Type of Soul – Becoming a Teacher For a Day?**

Kid ignored the stares he got when he entered the cafeteria. While the DWMA was a large building, the cafeteria was relatively small in comparison. Five rows of gleaming wooden tables, each one able to seat up to ten people, with a food line along the left wall of the room.

The room was filled to the brim, but this wasn't even half the students at the school. Plenty of them chose to eat in the classrooms instead, or go out for lunch. Considering it was Kid's first day, he decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch. Not that he would actually be eating anything.

He scanned the room.

"Looking for us?" Liz asked. She sidled up to Kid, biting into a crisp apple and balancing a tray of food on one hand. Patty draped herself over Kid's shoulders, balancing her tray on his head, and giggled.

"No," Kid said.

"Rude. What'd you send us ahead for?"

Kid grimaced. "Stein wanted to speak to me about missing the entire morning."

"Not us?"

"He said he knew where the blame lay."

"Ha! Serves you right." Liz laughed and took another bite of her apple. "So, do we get to meet the love of your life yet? Thanks to you and Black*Star, we missed the chance this morning."

"She's not the love of my life," Kid said. He reached up and took Patty's tray off his head, balancing it perfectly on all ten fingers before moving his hands to grip the side of the tray.

"You say that, but she's the only person you've loved your whole life, so…" Liz trailed off, shooting Kid a pointed look out of the corner of her eye.

"That's not true. I love father, and you and Patty," Kid said distractedly. He couldn't see Rylie anywhere.

"We love you too, Kid!" Patty gushed, hugging him from behind.

"Don't tell him that, it'll get to his head," Liz hissed. "Hey, is that the girl?"

"What?" Kid's focus snapped to Liz, and she jerked her chin, gesturing across the room. Leaning in front of Liz, Kid followed her gaze, standing up on his toes and glaring through the crowd.

He found her at the back of the room, and she wasn't alone. Which was expected. But he thought Fletcher would be with her, not some random boy that leaned in much to close for his liking.

Rylie moved away from the boy, looking extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

"Yes, that is," Kid said. The plastic tray cracked in his grip.

Patty snickered.

"Just don't kill him, okay?" Liz said as they started forward. "Only light maimings today."

Kid strode through the crowd, stopping behind Rylie and the boy.

"C'mon, babe," he said, leaning in closer to Rylie. He was smirking, which only seemed to worsen her discomfort. "I don't bite."

Kid slammed Patty's tray down on the table, leaning into the boy as close as he was to Rylie, and hissed, "But I do."

"Do you mind, I'm trying to talk," the boy turned, looked at Kid, and paled, "to her…"

He stood up and promptly left the table.

Rylie looked up at Kid and smiled. "You do know I would've broken his arm if he tried to touch me, right?"

"You shouldn't have to," Kid said. He took the boy's place, but left a respectable distance between him and Rylie. Patty and Liz sat on the other side of the table. Kid shoved Patty's tray toward her.

"Elizabeth, Patricia, this is Rylie Fenton. Rylie, my weapon partners," he said.

Rylie offered no hand but smiled warmly.

"It's nice to finally meet you both," she said. "Fletcher should be coming back soon."

Liz slapped her hands on the table and leaned forward, scrutinizing Rylie.

Rylie didn't move, except for a quick blink.

"Hmm, yeah, okay," Liz said. She dropped back in her seat. "You pass."

"I didn't know I was taking a test."

"Aren't you always taking tests, Ry?" Fletcher plopped down next to Rylie, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "I mean, you're up til midnight most nights doing work."

"Fletcher Micah Attwater, let go of me right now or I will dislocate your shoulder," Rylie said as she started eating her salad. He quickly let go. "And my sleeping habits aren't that bad. It's just midterm season."

"You're not sleeping?" Kid asked.

"Look who's talking," Liz muttered into her apple.

"I am sleeping, but just not as much as I should be," Rylie explained. "I have projects to do, papers to write, and tests to take for my midterm grades. I'll get back to sleeping normally soon."

"It's literally the first week of school," Liz said. "Aren't midterms supposed to be in the middle of the term?"

"Not for the University." Rylie took a swig of her water bottle, which had no way of seeing inside. "I'm dual enrolled. I graduated from high school three years ago."

"I'm sorry what now?" Liz said. The apple slipped from her hand, bouncing on the table and rolling toward Patty, who promptly snatched it up and devoured it.

"Did I not mention that?" Kid asked with a grin.

"No! No you didn't!"

"Yeah, I've been working towards getting a doctorate in ectobiology so since I graduated, I've been doing online classes with Phantom University of the Sciences in Amity Park." Rylie picked at her salad, not looking at Liz. "I'm two years into their masters program."

Fletcher looked at Rylie and sighed. "So…. What's our next class?"

"Wait, back up, I'm still processing," Liz said, waving Fletcher's question off. "Kid?"

"We have Soul Studies next," Kid said.

"You know that's not what I meant!"

* * *

Rylie's heart pounded in her ears as she looked at the pages of her Soul Studies textbook. Her hands shook and she paled significantly. Her worst nightmare was written on the publisher's page, where "G.I.W." was stamped in faint grey ink.

The Guys in White had a hand in creating the book. They were consulted for their "expertise" on ghosts.

Their influence spread through the book like poison. All the false information, their bigoted ideas, it made Rylie sick. She kept her head down, hiding her face behind the book, and looked at Fletcher to her left. He wasn't paying attention.

She spared a glance to her right, at Kid. He flipped through the book one page at a time, stopping to smooth out any folded corners or wrinkled edges. Liz and Patty's textbooks sat in front of him, waiting for the same treatment.

He must have felt Rylie's gaze, because he paused and glanced toward her from the corner of his eye.

Rylie smiled—although it felt more like a grimace—and hid her face behind her own book. She didn't even listen to Stein's lecture, silently praying for the class to end. Her chest hurt and the classroom suddenly felt too small. She wanted to go destroy something, preferably out in the desert where no one would see or hear her.

Swallowing hard, Rylie tried to focus on not breaking down in the middle of the class and just getting through the rest of the lesson. She fixed her gaze on the page, staring hard but not reading anything as her heart rate rose.

Kid's hand came down on her shoulder.

Rylie jumped, slamming her textbook shut. The classroom was mostly empty. The bell must have rang already, but she didn't even hear it.

"Rylie?" Kid asked. He gave her shoulder a squeeze, only pulling away once Rylie looked at him.

"Y-yeah?" she asked. Her voice trembled. She could only imagine how pale she was.

Kid frowned. "Are you okay? You look..."

"Terrified," Fletcher supplied when Kid trailed off.

Kid shot Fletcher a glare. Fletcher shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Kid asked, taking his hand away.

"The book is wrong," Rylie said.

"The book?" Kid repeated. He glanced down at Rylie's textbook and cocked his head. "DWMA textbooks are reprinted annually. We use information gathered by meisters and weapons all around the world. Each chapter is written by a collection of experts in the respective field."

He slipped the book from Rylie's hands, flipped open the cover, and skimmed the publication page. "This is the most recent version. What's wrong with it?"

Fletcher reached across Rylie and stole the book from Kid, scowling at the open page. He froze.

"It's wrong," Rylie said. "The parts about ghosts. It's wrong and, oh my Ancients, I'm probably going to get hunted."

She tried to gather herself, to explain it properly, but she couldn't. How was she supposed to say that the Guys in White, the ones who would gladly cut her open no questions asked if she was caught, wrote the parts on ghosts?

People—her classmates—were going to read this, and they were going to think ghosts were evil, and they were going to find her and hunt her and oh god.

Kid grabbed Rylie's shoulders again, turning her around so they faced each other. His eyes were wide with alarm.

"No one's going to hunt you," he said, speaking low so none of the lingering students could hear. "You're safe here. Why do you think someone is going to hunt you?"

Fletcher shoved the textbook back toward Kid, jabbing his finger at the G.I.W. stamp.

"Guys in White," Rylie said, her voice growing high and frantic. "Their lies, it's all in there."

She started to hyperventilate.

Fletcher pried Kid's hands off Rylie's shoulders and pushed him back. Kid barely stumbled. He frowned at the textbook, cradling his chin as he thought.

"The Guys in White? My father made a contract with them a couple decades ago. They're the experts we consult about ghosts since it's not a field meisters actively research."

"They're no experts, they're hacks," Rylie hissed. Her eyes flashed. "They hunt my dad and I. They would dissect us without a second thought about our humanity if they found out. They're bad news, Kid."

Kid leaned over the textbook, tracing the faint grey ink. He grabbed the page.

"What are you—"

He ripped the page out of the book, crumpled it, and dropped it on the floor.

"Isn't that damaging school property?" Fletcher whispered to Rylie.

Kid stared at the book, now only missing one page. He clenched his jaw, gripped the remaining pages, and proceeded to rip them all out.

Rylie ducked her head when Kid's dramatic display drew more than a few stares. He slapped the pages down on the desk, then bent down and picked up the first page he tore out. Smoothing it out on the corner of the desk, he laid it flat on top of the pile, and set the cover down beside it.

"What the hell," Fletcher said.

"Couldn't just rip out one page?" Rylie asked, laughing weakly.

"Of course not, that would be deplorable," Kid said. He dusted his hands off. "I'll have my father recall all the textbooks immediately. We can find a new source for the ghost chapter. Are you all right now?"

"I'll be fine," Rylie said. Her breathing was calmer now. "I'll probably go for a flight later to clear my head."

"Okay. I'll speak to my father now, we should fix this as soon as possible." Kid stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. He had no pencils or notebooks to gather.

"Liz, Patty," he called to the sisters, who were waiting by the classroom door. Liz had Kid's textbook as well as her own. "You can head home without me, I have to speak to my father."

"Whatever." Liz shrugged.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Kid asked, turning back to Rylie.

Rylie gave a weak smile.

"Yeah," she said softly.

Kid smiled back, grabbed Rylie's defaced textbook, and left the classroom.

Only a few people were left now, and they filed out after Kid, leaving Fletcher, Stein, and Rylie behind.

Stein leaned back in his chair, hands folded in his lap, feet on his desk. He watched Rylie pull herself together.

"You can go ahead," Rylie told Fletcher. "I want to talk to Professor Stein."

"You sure?" Fletcher asked, eyeing Stein distrustfully.

Rylie nodded.

"Okay. I'll be right outside."

Rylie waited for Fletcher to leave before she stood up.

Stein, for his part, set his feet down and propped his elbows on his knees.

"So the textbook is wrong?" he asked.

"Just the stuff on ghosts," Rylie said. She didn't look at him, gathering her things together. She was glad Kid took her textbook. If he hadn't, she probably would have left it behind. Or took it out to the desert and blasted it to pieces. "The Guys in White can't be trusted, Professor."

"Tomorrow's lesson was supposed to cover ghosts," Stein said. He regarded Rylie carefully, making her fidget under his stare. "But now you've got me in quite the predicament. I can't teach my students false information."

"... I could do it?" Rylie offered. "I-I mean, if that's alright with you. As you probably know, I'm dual enrolled with Phantom University of the Sciences. I've been working on getting my doctorate in Ectobiology since I was ten. I'm currently working through their masters program."

"You want to teach my class?" Stein asked, head cocked.

"If it's alright with you," she repeated. "I've already got a powerpoint ready, I use it to help tutor freshmen at the university."

Stein drummed his fingers against his screw as he contemplated her offer.

Rylie rocked on her heels, twisting her fingers as she waited for his reply. He didn't say anything for several long minutes, just stared over Rylie's shoulder and hummed.

"Okay," he finally said. "Tomorrow the class is all yours."

Rylie smiled. "I won't let you down.".

* * *

"Father," Kid greeted when he entered the Death Room. He approached the platform, looking around for Spirit. Kid couldn't see him anywhere, meaning he and his father were alone.

Stopping in front of the mirror, Kid tilted his head back and looked up at his father's reflection.

"Hiya, Kid! What's up?" Lord Death asked.

"It's about the textbooks." Kid held out Rylie's textbook. He had shoved the pages back into the cover, shuffling each one into place so it looked good as new.

Lord Death reached through the mirror and took the book from Kid. It promptly fell apart in his hands, the pages fluttering down to the platform.

Kid bit the inside of his cheek and scowled. All that effort wasted.

"Kid…" Lord Death said.

"Yes?"

"What happened to the book?"

"Rylie brought to my attention that the information is incorrect and can't be trusted."

"And that ripped all the pages out of the book?" Lord Death pressed.

"In a way," Kid said slowly.

Lord Death tilted his head. He didn't say anything, just stared expectantly, hands clasped before him.

Kid glared down at the mess on the floor, pursing his lips and trying, very hard, not to give in. He failed.

"I couldn't just rip out one page!" he shouted, throwing out his arms and gesturing to the pile. He folded in, hugging himself and kicking the pages. "I thought about just tearing out the whole chapter, but that's almost worse, can you imagine the kind of gap that would leave? Disgusting. And I already ripped out the page before I could really think about it, it isn't my fault!"

He crouched and started picking the pages back up, carefully sorting them by page number. Glancing up at Lord Death, Kid said, "But that isn't the point. The Guys in White can't be trusted. I recommend we break our contract with them immediately and find new ectobiologist experts."

He stared expectantly at his father and picked up another page.

"Sorry, kiddo, no can do!" Lord Death said.

Kid faltered, almost dropping the pages in his hand. "What? Why not?"

The mirror bulged. Kid shuffled back, sweeping the pages to the side with his arm, as his father passed through the glass, joining Kid in the physical realm. Lord Death crouched in front of Kid and picked up the table of contents from the floor. A small citation for the Guys in White sat under the chapter on ghosts.

Lord Death hummed and passed the page to Kid.

"That's easy," he said. "Because I can't!"

Kid stared blankly at Lord Death. "Is that a joke?"

"Of course it isn't. Danny told me quite some time ago that the Guys in White weren't reliable," Lord Death said.

The corner of Kid's mouth twitched down. "How long ago?"

"Hm…" Lord Death poked Kid's hair. "As long as you've had those adorable stripes."

"Father, please!" Kid's hands shot to his hair, covering the white lines. "Wait. I've always had these. How long have we had the contract with the Guys in White?"

"Not much longer than that."

Kid scrunched his face as he scowled. "Then why did you keep it?"

"Here's the thing about mortals. When they have lots of power, they don't like being told what to do, especially by someone more powerful than them," Lord Death explained. He took the growing stack of pages from Kid's hands and set it down, then guided him to the edge of the platform.

Lord Death sat down and patted the spot next to him.

Kid dusted off the black stone before taking a seat.

"It scares them," Lord Death continued. "And when mortals are afraid of something, they get angry. And when they get angry, they make threats."

"We're gods, they can't do anything to hurt us," Kid said.

"You're absolutely right! And we could do everything to hurt them, but we shouldn't."

"It upsets the balance."

"Well, there's more to it than that." Lord Death patted Kid's shoulder.

Kid just stared back at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Right."

Kid felt a brief flicker of unease from his father.

"We want to keep balance. And sometimes that means placating the mortals. They were afraid I might turn the weapons and meisters against them, so when they started making threats, we made a deal.

"As long as the government got to review the education our students receive, they wouldn't try to interfere with the school. When ghosts were added to the curriculum, they recommended the Guys in White and I agreed."

"To placate them?" Kid guessed.

"Yes."

Kid cradled his chin in his hand, frowning at the ground. While it was an interesting lesson, it didn't actually answer his question. "Why can't you break the contract with the Guys in White? It won't affect the government contract, and we can find our own experts to use."

"One of the most amazing things about humans is how creative they are with language. They have little phrases for everything!" Lord Death clapped. "'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.' Such a useful phrase."

Realization dawned in Kid's eyes. "You're keeping an eye on them."

"You got it!"

"But the textbooks are still wrong."

"I don't think that will be a problem much longer."

Kid couldn't see his father's smile, but he could hear it. Anyone else would probably miss it, since Lord Death always sounded happy, but not Kid. It was the way Lord Death's voice became a little less fake as he spoke. A little lower, a little gruffer, but still with that bright lilt.

Lord Death turned away, and Kid followed his gaze back to the Death Mirror. It showed Rylie talking to Stein.

Determination glinted in her eyes. Kid smiled.

"You should be proud, kiddo," Lord Death said.

Kid pulled his legs up, crossing them on the platform, and watched Rylie a little longer.

"I am," he said. His smile never faded.

* * *

That night, Rylie sat in the dining room of her and Fletcher's apartment, preparing for tomorrow's lecture. The apartment was quiet, except for the occasional clicking of keys and shuffling of papers as she worked. She had the place to herself tonight.

Fletcher had trouble with his powers again on their way home, so Wulf took him to Fenton Works for help. Rylie used the opportunity to ask Wulf to bring her father over, with a few items that could help her lesson.

The slides she used for tutoring gave her a great outline, but for a full lesson she would need more.

For example, ectobiology courses generally didn't talk about how weapons could and couldn't affect ghosts, or how soul wavelength attacks would short out a ghost's power for a short time. She needed to adjust her usual lesson and focus on why all this mattered to meisters and weapons.

She was just starting the final slide when Danny arrived. The bright portal light cast the room in an eerie green glow, until Danny stepped through and Wulf closed the portal behind him, leaving the father and daughter alone.

"So I brought the power dampener and the pocket projector—though why you need that is still beyond me, sweetie," Danny said, placing a small bracelet and a small box down on the table. "And I also have the fifty copies of the book Nana wrote that you wanted. Why do you need all this again?"

Rylie looked up from her laptop, her gaze serious.

"The textbook is wrong, and Professor Stein is letting me teach the class tomorrow," she said, then went back to her work.

"Ry, you don't need to do that." Danny sighed. "Just because the Guys in White wrote that chapter—"

"—doesn't mean I want to possibly get hunted by my potential friends."

"You shouldn't even be using your ghost half to begin with, Rylie." Danny gave her a stern look, folding his arms.

Rylie sighed and shook her head.

"I like flying, can you fault me?" She paused. "When's Fletcher supposed to get back?"

"Rylie—"

"I already promised I would so there's no turning back, Dad. Now, Fletcher?"

Danny sighed, no doubt exasperated, but he dropped the subject. "Danielle is helping him with control, he should be back soon. Do you need anything else, sweetie?"

"A dad hug," Rylie said. She stood up and threw her arms around Danny's waist. "Your hugs are the best."

Her core purred as she closed her eyes, feeling relaxed for the first time since Soul Studies.

Danny smiled softly and hugged Rylie back. His core responded to hers, purring in kind.

"Make sure to tell me how it goes, I'll be rooting for you back home."

"Of course, dad."

Rylie didn't let go yet. She wanted another minute before she would have to get back to work.

* * *

The sun smiled down on Death City, literally. Rylie hoped that meant it would be a good day, but the sun's wide grin was more unsettling than reassuring. Then again, it always looked like that.

"C'mon, Fletcher, we can't be late!" She called from the top of the stairs. She carried twenty-five of the books her dad brought, along with her laptop and the pocket projector.

Instead of her normal clothes, she wore a dark green dress shirt with black slacks and shiny black dress shoes. She had a buttonless black blazer on over her shirt, blue headband in her hair, and round-rimmed glasses.

"We're two hours early, Rylie!" Fletcher complained, a few steps behind her. "I haven't been this early since our first day, can't you give me a break?"

"I need to get set up and make sure there are no technical difficulties," she shot back, eyes narrowed. "I'll make sure to buy you a bunch of comic books for your birthday if you'll just hurry it up."

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Rylie, Fletcher!" Maka's voice echoed up the stairs.

The sound of her voice reassured Rylie more than the grinning sun ever could. She and Fletcher stopped, waiting for Maka as she ran up to meet them.

It didn't take her long, despite the size of the staircase. Maka bounded up the steps, skipping so much as three, four, or even five steps in each leap. One of the benefits of going to this school for years, no doubt.

Rylie was glad she had her ghostly stamina and strength to help her along.

"Sorry I'm late!" Maka said when she finally reached them. She eyed the giant stacks of books Rylie and Fletcher carried with disbelief. "Is this what you needed help with?"

Rylie smiled.

"Yeah," she said. "I found some errors with the textbook when it came to ghosts and the professor is letting me teach today."

"Does that mean I should call you Professor Fenton now?" Maka asked with a smirk.

Rylie blushed, hiding her face.

"I-I mean, I am working towards my doctorate," she admitted shyly as they continued walking.

Maka faltered, tripping on the top step. She fell into a neat roll and popped right back up, darting forward to walk in front of Rylie. Turning around, Maka backed through the academy doors as she spoke.

"Really? That's amazing. I haven't thought much about doing anything outside of," she gestured to the academy, "this."

"Kid actually convinced me to come here." Rylie looked at the ground. "After I found Fletcher."

"Oh, that explains a few things." Maka clasped her hands behind her back, walking with a bounce in her step. "It's pretty rare for EAT students to transfer in from outside the Academy in later years. For the NOT students it's almost like a regular high school, just with some extra classes for meisters and weapons. But it's different for us EATs."

Maka looked Rylie up and down, taking in her small stature and young face. "You're my age, right? Thirteen? Black*Star is, too. Age varies a little in the EAT class because lots of us enroll early. We're usually in it for life right from the start."

Maka turned back around when they reached the classroom, holding the door for Rylie and Fletcher and closing it behind them.

No one else was there yet, which wasn't surprising. Shifting the books, she balanced the stack on arm and brushing a strand of black hair out of her face. For a moment, she held an internal debate.

She liked Maka. Despite not knowing her for very long, Rylie felt like she could trust her. Maka loved to study, just like her, and she seemed open-minded. Plus, it would be nice to have a classmate Rylie could trust completely.

Coming to a decision, she sighed.

"For all intents and purposes I should have been a NOT student," she admitted. "But there's a reason I'm not."

Fletcher set his stack of books down, frowning at Rylie. His brow furrowed, he gave Rylie a knowing—and questioning—look.

"Ry, you sure about this? You know there's no taking it back."

"Yes, Fletcher, I'm sure." She put her own things down. "It's better coming from me now than something happening later that puts it out in the open."

"If you say so, you're the expert here."

Maka looked between them, her eyebrows shooting up. "Um, what are you talking about?"

"I trust you, Maka," Rylie said. She took a deep breath. "Fletcher and I… We aren't human, not really."

Bright white rings formed around her waist, shifting her to her ghost form. "We're what's known as halfas. Half-ghost, half-human hybrids."

Maka backed up, bumping into the table next to her, and stared. She didn't say anything.

Maybe this had been a mistake. The longer Maka didn't say anything, the more anxious Rylie became. She shouldn't have done it. Now Maka would be scared of her, maybe even hate her. Maybe Rylie could get Clockwork to take this all back.

But then Maka stepped closer. She smiled, staring intently into Rylie's eyes, then looked Rylie up and down.

Rylie blushed green but let Maka study her.

"Wow," Maka said when she finally leaned away. "Are you… I mean… How is that possible?"

Rylie's nervousness crumbled away, replaced by a soothing wave of relief.

"For me, I was born this way. Fletcher's story is his own to tell," she explained. "My dad had an accident when he was fourteen. He walked into a ghost portal while it was off and it turned on with him inside. It changed his DNA, everything. Those traits got passed down to me. But unlike him, I'm not half dead."

"Wow. I can't believe something like that is possible, that's amazing." Maka paused. She looked at the books Rylie and Fletcher had brought. "I went through our textbook, twice. It said ghosts were dangerous, malevolent beings that needed strict policing, and hunting."

Rylie paled. Just thinking about it made her want to throw up.

"This is really dangerous for you to tell, isn't it?" Maka finished.

Rylie changed back and nodded.

"A lot of ghost hunters wouldn't see me as human anymore. Very few actually realize that ghosts have feelings and such. Not every ghost is bad. The ones that don't cause trouble tend to stay in the Ghost Zone, which is why it's so 'unheard of' to see a good ghost."

She started setting up her laptop on Stein's desk and set the pocket projector down beside it. She pressed a button on the top and the project expanded, hundreds of little pieces sliding and shifting as it grew larger.

"Thank you for telling me," Maka said. "I'm really glad you trust me. Is that why you wanted me to come in early?"

Rylie smiled and nodded.

"Yeah." She paused as she logged into her laptop, her background a family photo. "You can tell Soul, if you want. I trust him, I just didn't think he'd want to be here this early."

She handed Maka one of the books on the desk—Ghost Behavior and Ectobiology by Dr. Madeline Fenton. "You'll need this."

Maka grabbed the book and immediately flipped through the first few pages, her gaze darting back and forth. She grinned.

"This is already way more comprehensive than anything in the textbook," she said. She glanced at the name on the cover. "Your grandmother wrote this?"

"Yeah. My Nana went to the Ghost Zone to study all different types of ghosts to write that. She even went to Paradizo to study the effects some hunters have on ghosts."

"Paradizo is an island in the Ghost Zone Ry claimed as her lair. She uses it to house ghosts that have been hurt by hunters—mainly the Guys in White," Fletcher explained. "She doesn't even let me go there. Says it might scare off some of the ghosts."

"The Guys in White wrote the chapter on cores in our textbook, and that's what you're correcting, right?" Maka asked. She worried her lip. "They're a government organization, shouldn't they have the correct information?"

"They gained their information through torturing any ghost they were able to catch," Rylie said. "Any studies they did on the core were done without consent from the very much sentient ghost."

"Oh," Maka said. She ran her hands over the cover of Maddie's textbook. "That's…"

The door to the classroom opened, and Maka trailed off, but it was just Stein. He paused in the doorway, eyeing the books and the projector.

"You came prepared," he said.

Rylie rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Better to be prepared for anything," she said with a chuckle. "I brought enough books if you want one."

Stein walked forward and snatched one off the stack. He dropped into his wheelie chair, kicked off the floor, and promptly fell over when the chair went over the steps on the teacher's platform. Without a word, he got up, righted the chair, and sat down again. This time he rolled across the classroom until he bumped into the front row of desks.

"There's still more than an hour before class," he said, cracking open the book and looking completely unphased. "Take your time setting up."

Rylie checked the clock on the wall for the time.

"An hour?" she muttered under her breath. Quickly, she ran through how long it took her to put together the slideshow last night. "I think that's enough time to check for the fourth time if my citations are in order."

"College students." Stein scoffed and rolled his eyes, flipping to the next page in the book.

* * *

In the middle seat, of the middle row, of the middle column of desks, Kid sat with his hands in his pockets and his chin on the desk. He couldn't stop staring at Rylie. She stood at the front of the room between two stacks of books. And she wore a suit.

Kid had never seen her in a suit before. He didn't even know she owned a suit. The jacket was nice. Fitted, with a notch lapel and no buttons. It suited her. He wondered if he'd get to see her in it again.

He wondered if he had any jackets that matched hers. He would check later.

"You're staring," Liz said, poking his cheek.

"I'm allowed to stare," Kid said. He waited a couple seconds, then glanced at Liz. "Can you poke the other cheek, too, please?"

Liz complied without question.

"That wasn't the right spot."

"Then do it yourself."

He did. And then he did it another three times, for a total of eight pokes. Sighing in relief, he turned his attention to back Rylie and caught her watching him. He smiled.

* * *

Rylie smiled back at Kid.

Behind her, her classmates slowly trickled in. A note on the chalkboard said to take a textbook before sitting down. Some did. Others didn't see the message until they were already sitting and had to go back up to grab one.

Some of them gave Rylie odd looks as they did, but she ignored them. She was used to it.

Behind her back, her hand went intangible against her will. Thank the Ancients everyone was already in the room, so there was no one to see it.

As the bell rang, Rylie fished a remote out of her pocket. There were only a few small buttons on it, their functions shown by the small white symbols on them. Rylie pressed the power button. The projector light flared, casting the first slide on a whitescreen behind her.

She looked over her classmates, each one looking back expectantly—although some still looked confused.

She took a deep breath. She could do this. It wasn't the first presentation she ever had to do, and those were for classes larger than this. But this time she was the teacher and not just a student presenter.

"So, ghosts—" Rylie started, only to be immediately cut off, by Ox no less.

"Excuse me, professor!" Ox's hand shot into the air. He didn't wait for Stein to call on him before continuing. "What's going on?"

Stein, still seated at the front of the classroom, tilted his head back and glared at Ox. "What's going on is you're interrupting the lecture."

"But you're not giving a lecture."

"Rylie is."

Ox lowered his hand, frowned, and glanced between Rylie and Stein. "But she's a student."

She was also getting really tired of Ox being Ox, and she'd only known him for a few days.

"I'm also working on getting my doctorate in this exact subject. Currently, I'm at the masters level. And I help tutor the freshman at Phantom University in Amity Park," Rylie chipped in.

"But…" Ox pressed his lips together. "But you're still a student."

"Does anyone have any relevant questions?" Stein asked, turning to face the class. "Considering the lecture hasn't even started, I find that unlikely, so Rylie—yes Maka?"

"I have a question for Professor Fenton," Maka said.

Rylie's face turned a brilliant red.

Maka had an innocent smile, but her eyes glinted. She glanced at Ox. Her smile grew brighter when he huffed and crossed his arms.

"Okay," Stein said, hiding his own grin.

Rylie felt rather ganged up on.

"I just wanted to know what page we should turn to for the start of the lecture," Maka said. She gave Rylie a discreet thumbs up.

"Page fifteen," Rylie replied, happy to finally be on topic. "Types of Ghosts and Their Abilities."

She pressed a button with a little arrow pointing right, and the next slide, labeled Spirits, appeared. It had a picture of Danny Phantom giving whoever was behind the camera a thumbs up and a bright smile.

"It's easy to think of ghosts as just the gathering of post-human consciousness and ectoplasm, which isn't always the case." Hitting the button again, she brought up a few bulleted notes.

"However, a spirit is that type of ghost. If a human dies with, for lack of a better term, unfinished business, they may become a spirit. These ghosts are normally more human in nature and are just as intelligent as humans. They think, they emote, and they feel pain."

She switched to the next slide, a picture of Phantom getting blasted during a fight, his expression twisted into one of pain. Rylie didn't like looking at this picture, taken by some bystander during one of her father's fights, but it was the best example she had. She went on to the next slide so she didn't have to look at it any longer.

This one showed a blue-skinned ghost with red eyes, four arms, and dressed in ancient Greek armour. She held a purple box with a green skull emblazoned on it.

"Then you have a ghost, or poltergeist for some of the weaker ones. These include any ghost that formed from an idea—such as Pandora and her box in the picture above—and animalistic ghosts. These ghosts range in shape. Some are just what we call blob ghosts while others can be very complex, and—"

Patty's hand shot on the air. Her tongue poked from between her lips as she strained to reach as high as she could, waving her hand back and forth to get Rylie's attention.

"Yes, Patty?"

"Are there any ghost dogs?" Patty asked.

"Actually." Rylie moved on to the next slide, with a video clip. The thumbnail showed a small green puppy with black ears and red eyes. "There are a lot of dog ghosts, like Cujo here."

She played the video.

"Cujo, come here!" Rylie's voice came through the speakers. The puppy ran toward the camera, yipping happily.

"Cujo, protect."

Suddenly, he wasn't so small anymore. In an instant, he grew as big as a tree and barked ferociously. Saliva dripped from his jowls and he bared his teeth. His low growl echoed through the room.

Some of Rylie's classmates flinched in surprise, one of them even yelping and falling out of their chair.

Patty squealed, "Puppy!" and clapped.

Rylie just smiled.

The next clip had a picture of Pariah Dark's skeleton army.

"Finally, there are echoes. They're called this because they behave differently than ghosts and spirits. In the case of the skeleton army, those echoes are bound to two ghostly artifacts—the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage. Those two artifacts are worn by the ruler of the Ghost Zone, and their current location is unknown," she explained.

At least unknown to humans. Every ghost knew who wore the crown.

"Echoes will only listen to whoever created them, or whoever wears the item they are bound to."

The next slide was titled Cores and Obsessions.

"Professor Fenton!" Black*Star shouted.

Rylie flinched at his loud voice. Her gaze snapped to Maka, who wouldn't meet Rylie's instead and was fighting down a mischievous grin.

Black*Star and slammed his hands on the table. "Why do we need to know this, anyway? Tsubaki can't eat a ghost core!"

It was a surprisingly relevant question.

"You never know when a ghost will show up and you need to know how to defend yourself properly if one does," Rylie said. "Ghosts can be just as dangerous as Kishin Eggs, and there have been ghosts in recorded history that could and would endanger the world."

Black*Star grumbled and crossed his arms, clearly unsatisfied. Tsubaki yanked him back into his seat.

"Any other questions before I continue?" Rylie asked.

"Yeah," Liz said. "I was wondering, how would—"

Maka loudly cleared her throat.

"I was wondering, Professor Fenton, how would we defend ourselves? I thought ghosts couldn't be hurt by earthly stuff."

"I'm surprised you know that," Kid said.

"Shut up, I know things!" Liz pinched Kid's shoulder.

He yelped and rubbed the spot, shooting Liz a dark glare. It melted into a pleading look when Liz didn't move.

Rylie tried to smother her laughter. She really did. But it was hard with the face Kid was making.

"Liz?" he begged.

Liz crossed her arms, sticking her hands beneath her armpits.

Kid turned to Patty on his other side. "Patty?"

"Okay!" Patty chirped. She pinched his other shoulder.

Rylie swallowed the rest of her laughter, quickly composing herself, but couldn't fight down the grin that graced her lips.

"To answer your question, Liz, that's what a lot of us in the field of ectobiology thought, until we saw that weapons can hurt ghosts, so long as they don't turn intangible," she said. "And a soul wavelength attack could manage to disrupt the energy production in the revenant complex, rendering a ghost powerless for as little as thirty minutes to as long as a day."

"Professor Fenton, do you know how ghosts react to a Death God's power?" Kid asked, raising his hand. "I'm really curious, Professor Fenton. Do you know? Professor Fenton."

"Kid, shouldn't you already know the answer to that question?" Stein interrupted.

Kid hummed. "I want to hear Professor Fenton's answer."

Rylie blushed again and looked away as she answered. "W-Well, since we don't have a large enough test pool, there is no definitive answer, but the currently running theory is that a Death God's power would negate a ghost's. What exactly would happen beyond that is purely speculation."

Kid looked very pleased as Rylie spoke, like a satisfied cat. Rylie suspected he didn't care at all about her answer and just wanted to hear her talk. Which was ridiculous, because she was already talking. The whole point of this lesson was for her to talk.

But she answered him seriously anyways.

"Some theorize that, depending on what power is used, a Death God could seriously damage a ghost's core even while intangible. Which leads into the next topic of cores and obsessions on page forty-eight."

The slide changed to a diagram of a core.

"The core, for a ghost, does the job of every organ in our body. It's also where the energy is stored and is their soul," she said.

"You have the outer shell, which is said to be extremely durable, and the polter-matter, which makes up the inside of the core." With every core part Rylie mentioned, she hit the arrow button to highlight the area. "In the very middle is the revenant complex, which allows for ghosts to use their powers. In some cases, the revenant complex even allows for elemental powers such as ice, fire, or electricity. In one documented case, it allowed a ghost to have the power to control the weather.

"A ghost's powers can be dictated by what's called an Obsession, a form of madness that is exclusive to ghosts. Examples of Obsessions are boxes," she showed a picture of the Box Ghost, "having friends," Klemper, "and protection," Phantom.

She turned away from the slides and faced the class. "To help you better understand ghosts, I brought one with me today. He's completely harmless, unless you anger him," Rylie explained with a smile. "Cujo, come!"

There was a yip and the small puppy from the video came zipping through the door, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

Liz shrieked, slipping out of her seat, and backed up against the desks behind her.

Rylie didn't like that, at all. If Liz reacted to Cujo, who was only a puppy, like that, how would she react to Rylie? She didn't want to think about it.

"Don't be so dramatic, it's just a dog," Kid said.

"You don't get to say that, Mr. Three-stripes!" Liz shouted.

Kid collapsed right beside her, dropping so fast his forehead hit the ground with a loud thwack. He hunched over, banging his fist on the floor.

"Damn it, you're right! Disgusting, ugly, pathetic, just send me to Oblivion." Kid sobbed into the tiles.

Rylie immediately abandoned her place at the front of the classroom and made her way to Kid, leaving Cujo to his own devices. That was her first mistake.

The same students who gave Rylie weird looks when they entered the classroom were looking at Kid now. Some of them snickered, others looked completely lost, and a few looked kind of scared.

It was moments like these when Rylie remembered that, despite how different they were, she and Kid had a lot in common.

Without a second thought, she knelt down in front of Kid and placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Kid," she said simply, trying to get his attention.

"Rylie, have you come to take me to Oblivion?" Kid asked, peeking up at her through his bangs.

"No." She pulled him up and hugged him tightly. "I would never."

"You don't think I deserve to go to Oblivion?" He hugged her back, sniffing into her shoulder.

"No, you don't. You haven't done anything to deserve that, ever," she said. "You're more than just your hair. You're perfect just the way you are, Kid."

So focused on Kid, Rylie didn't even think of watching her classmates and how they'd deal with an unattended ghost. That was her second mistake.

"Hey, dog!" Black*Star's shout drew everyone's attention to the back of the room. He stood on his desk, pointing down at Cujo. "You're that cool, strong looking dog from that video! I want to fight you!"

With a yell, he jumped off his desk, hopping down to the front of the room, and charged toward Cujo.

Cujo's eyes narrowed. He growled, growing to his full, colossal size, and lunged. Catching Black*Star's leg in his jaws, Cujo tossed his head and hurled Black*Star toward the wall.

Black*Star's yell turned into a startled—but completely manly, as he would insist later—screech as his trajectory abruptly changed. He broke through the wall and went tumbling into the hallway.

Rylie winced, but didn't feel any pity for Black*Star. She knew Cujo held back. But no one else did. All around the room, weapons started to transform and meisters readied to defend their classmates.

"I'll be right back," she told Kid. She couldn't have anyone fighting her family's sort-of dog. She walked down the aisle calmly, right back to the front of the room.

"I've got this, just stay back," she said over her shoulder.

"You're a little new," Ox said, rising to his feet. He held Harvar in his hands. "You should just let the Lightning King handle this."

"And let you hurt my dog?" Rylie asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm the child of ghost hunters, live in the one city where ghost attacks are common, know my way around a majority of any ghost weapon you could hand me, and we are not seriously injuring Cujo for something Black*Star stupidly did. Seriously, what part of 'do not anger the dog' was not clear?"

She glared at Ox and clipped on a silver and green bracelet. "Just because I'm new here doesn't mean I don't know how to fight. Not that I'll need to do that."

Cujo growled, glaring Rylie down.

"Cujo, down!" Rylie commanded. She held her arm out and slapped a button on the bracelet. A nozzle sprouted from the band and swivelled toward Cujo.

Cujo didn't show any signs of calming down. He crouched low, ears back, tail down. All the strangers and weapons were upsetting him.

"Sorry, boy," Rylie whispered. She clenched her fist and the bracelet reacted to the twitch of her muscles. A spray of green liquid burst from the nozzle.

Cujo lifted a large paw, maybe to block it, maybe to step on Rylie. Either way, before he could do anything, the spray splashed against his face. He yelped in pain as it soaked into his fur. It started to bubble, cloaking his body. Beneath the foam, Cujo glowed and reverted to his smaller form.

He shook his body from nose to tail, tossing the foam around the room. He still growled and yipped angrily, but he looked better than before.

Rylie picked him up, careful not to get any of the foam on her bare skin, and held him close.

"And that's one way to subdue a ghost without having to seriously injure them," she said

"That's it?" Ox asked, arms drooping. Harvar changed back to human form. He didn't look too put out by the lack of action.

"Aw, so he wasn't actually that strong?" Black*Star asked. He sat in the hallway, legs crossed, amidst the rubble from the broken wall. A piece of drywall smushed the large spike in his hair.

"You're just an idiot!" Kid, now fully recovered from his episode, shouted. "How dare you ruin Rylie's presentation!"

"Kid, sit down." Liz grabbed Kid's sleeve and yanked him back to the floor.

"What did you hit him with?" Maka asked, looking at Rylie's bracelet.

"It's a spray that I'm still developing. It disrupts the signals the revenant complex sends to the body, cancelling any powers for a short amount of time," Rylie said, raising her arm and showing off the bracelet. "It's still in development because I'm trying to find a way to make it painless. My goal is for humans to be able to protect themselves without actually harming the ghost. That won't help with any future relationships with both species."

"Fascinating," Stein said. He rolled into the middle of the room. "Thank you for the educational lecture, Professor Fenton. Thanks to Black*Star, I think we should end it here. Tomorrow we'll go back to our regular lecture. I already have our dissec—I mean, lesson, ready. Don't be late. Or skip."

Stein swivelled to face Fletcher. "I'm talking about you, Mr. Attwater."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Professor." Fletcher gulped.

* * *

**Hi everyone! I hope you're still enjoying the story! Angel and I definitely love writing it. Some of these characters are just so much fun to work with. If you'd like to join our discord server, contact Angel or I at andiezir and kinglazrus on tumblr!**

**~Alis**


	5. Death the Lovestruck

**Death the Lovestruck – Kid's First Date, Will It Be One to Remember?**

Death the Kid knew many things. The ins and outs of living souls, every language on Earth, the entire DWMA curriculum, how many steps it was from Gallows Manor to almost anywhere in Death City.

But he did _not _know how to ask out a girl. While Liz was eager to help, he found her advice distinctly lacking.

"Just go right up to her and ask her on a date," Liz said. She didn't look up from her magazine, tapping her foot against the edge of the coffee table as she read.

"But how do I do that?" Kid asked. He knelt on the other side of the table, hands on his knees, a desperate shine in his eyes.

"'Hey, Rylie, babe, go on a date with me,'" Liz said in a deep voice that sounded nothing like Kid.

Kid wrinkled his nose. "_ Babe? _"

"Yes, darling?" Liz lowered her magazine and grinned at the distraught expression on Kid's face. It was a blessed mix of confusion and horror, complete with wide eyes and a scrunched up face.

Liz thought it was adorable.

"Okay, fine," she said with a laugh. "You don't have to call her babe. Just go up to her and ask her out, and don't pressure her. Be direct, not forceful. People appreciate that."

"That's it?" Kid shuffled his knees and tilted his head. He looked like a lost puppy.

Liz covered her face with her magazine, smothering her laughter. Kid was too cute. She had to give Rylie the biggest hug for doing this to him. Rylie was officially Liz's favourite person ever.

"You could flirt. Compliment her, make her feel good. Do it whenever you have the chance. She'll be flattered and I know you like to see her smile," she said.

"Whenever I have the chance?"

"The least she's expecting it, the better her reaction will be."

Kid hummed. He could do that. He already wanted to flirt with her, he would just have to actually _do _it.

"I can't help you much beyond that because I don't know Rylie as well as you do. You're the one who knows her best. You know what she'll like," Liz said.

Kid stared down at his knees while Liz returned to her magazine. She had a point. While Liz could give him some general advice, Rylie was still only an acquaintance to her. Kid couldn't expect Liz to know what Rylie was like.

But he knew someone who did.

* * *

"Father, I need to use the mirror," Kid said, staring up at Lord Death's reflection.

"Shouldn't you be in class, kiddo?"

"I have a mission."

"Oh?"

Father and son stared at each other. Lord Death started leaning over, slowly bending to the side at a ninety-degree angle. Neither god broke eye contact. Kid was determined not to back down. Staring into the gaping, endless eyes of his father's mask, he set his shoulders and tilted his head up.

Lord Death hummed.

A light blush crawled across Kid's cheeks.

"Okay!" Lord Death jerked upright. The mirror bulged and he stepped out, sweeping his arms to the side and gesturing Kid forward.

"Thank you, father," Kid said politely. He reached out and touched the mirror, thinking of Queen Samantha. A gothic bedroom appeared in the reflection. He could see dark purple walls, a four poster bed with black lace curtains, and a painting of a nebula hanging on the far wall.

Kid stepped forward, his front foot passing through the mirror. Just before he fully immersed himself, Lord Death called out, "I hope she says yes!"

Kid stumbled in surprise and fell into Oblivion. He spun around and stared at his father on the other side of the mirror.

Lord Death gave him two big thumbs up.

"You—but… how?" Kid stammered. "What did Liz tell you? _When did she tell you? _"

It hadn't even been ten minutes since he left Gallows.

"She didn't have to! Good luck, kiddo!"

Cheeks burning, Kid turned away and flew toward the mirror at Fenton manor. He pressed his hands against his cheeks to hide the blush. If there was one thing he hated, it was blushing. It was always blotchy and uneven and he hated seeing it on his cheeks. He hated _other _people seeing it.

Hands still cupping his face, Kid jumped out of the mirror without pausing to announce himself.

Danny, having just left the master bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist, jumped in surprise when he saw Kid. Eyes blown wide with surprise, he exclaimed, "Kid, what the hell!?"

"Oh, King Phantom. I was looking for Samantha," Kid said, completely unfazed by the sight of the ghost king in nothing but a towel. He narrowed his eyes and squeezed his cheeks, peering around Danny as he searched for Sam.

The door of the walk-in closet was open and the light was on.

"Excuse me," Kid said, immediately heading for the closet.

Danny put a hand on Kid's shoulder. "She's changing, give her a few minutes," he said. "Is this about Rylie?"

Kid scowled. "Am I really that predictable?"

"I mean, Stein figured it out in a second," Danny said. "Trying to figure out how to ask her out?"

For a moment, Kid entertained the idea of turning right back around. He wasn't uncomfortable around Danny, and he definitely wasn't afraid of the man, but he intended to have this conversation with Rylie's mother, not her father. Before he could make up his mind, Liz's voice popped into his head, with great words of wisdom.

_Stop being a dumbass. _So wise.

"I want it to be perfect," he finally admitted.

"Then you came to the right place." Danny smiled and moved to the bed. "Come here, and get your hands off your cheeks."

Kid sat down beside Danny but didn't move his hands. "Thank you, but for right now, I don't think I will."

He felt the warmth still spread beneath his fingers and frowned in displeasure.

"It's ugly," he added.

"It's a normal reaction when you feel these kinds of emotions. I can assure you she'll do the same thing," Danny said. "It happened with me and Sam. We blushed around each other a lot when we were kids. Still do, sometimes."

"But Rylie looks cute when she blushes," Kid stated matter-of-factly. He massaged his cheeks, trying to will the colour away, and fixed his gaze on his shoes. Perfectly shined.

"What if…" He hesitated, taking a deep breath, and forced out his next words. "What if she says no?"

Danny smile turned knowing. "She won't. I know her, and she won't. But she might not understand what you mean at first."

"What do people actually _do _on dates?" Kid asked. Beyond whether Rylie would say yes or not, that was his biggest concern. Before attending DWMA, he only had passing interactions with people outside Rylie's family, and Liz and Patty in the past two years. None of those interactions involved proper date decorum.

"For a first date, you just have to take her someplace she'd like. Nothing fancy, no dressing up. It doesn't have to be formal." Danny fixed Kid with a firm, but kind, stare. "You could take her to the park and it would be a date."

"And don't think you have to follow society's expectations of a 'perfect date,'" Sam said, emerging from the closet with a towel around her shoulders, hair damp, and wearing simple jeans and a t-shirt. She paused when she saw Danny.

"You're having a heart-to-heart about our daughter while wearing nothing but a towel," she said, quirking an eyebrow. "Go get dressed, I can take it from here."

"Alright, alright." Danny raised his hands in a placating gesture. He made his way to the closet, saying as he went, "It's going to be our baby's first date, Sam."

Sam rolled her eyes and jabbed his shoulder with her knuckles. "I _know _."

She took Danny's place on the bed and eyed Kid up and down. Her eyes narrowed when she saw what he was doing with his hands.

"Okay, first things first," she said. She grabbed Kid's wrists and pulled his hands away from his face.

Kid protested, letting out a strangled gasp and trying to take his hands back.

Sam completely ignored him, caging his hands with hers, and bumped his chin up, forcing his gaze up to her face.

"Lots of people like to think there are all these ridiculous things guys _have _to do on dates. They have to make it grand, and memorable, and perfect. Nice restaurant, nice clothes, anything to impress. Not to mention a kiss at the end of the night, which is ridiculous because not everyone is comfortable with that," she said." "There are little things, too. Like holding doors open, pulling out chairs, giving your date your jacket if it's cold. The little things can be nice, but they aren't _important _."

Sam let go of Kid's hands.

He immediately moved to cover his cheeks again, but Sam beat him to it. She cupped his face in her hands and kept his face turned toward hers.

"You could spend all day asking people what _they _think you should do on a date and you'll get a thousand different answers. Some of them good, some of them stupid, some of them chauvinistic displays of unnecessary masculinity that nobody needs. Here's what _you _need to do."

Kid nodded, completely absorbed.

"Forget all that stuff. A date is all about spending time with someone you like. Just have fun. If it's with you, Rylie will love whatever you do. I know my daughter." Sam leaned back, feeling satisfied, and watched Kid process her words.

He ran his hands over his bangs, even though he knew they were already perfectly straight, and paused to cup the stripes on his left side.

Fun. It just needed to be fun. That didn't sound much different than any other time he hung out with Rylie. Maybe that was the point. He and Rylie were already close, not much needed to change between them whether they were dating or not.

But he should do _something _to make it different.

"What about flowers?" Kid asked.

"Not necessary," Sam answered without hesitation.

"Okay," he said, biting his lip. "Not flowers."

* * *

The knock on the door was unexpected.

"Coming!" Rylie called, lightly jogging to the door. She pulled it open, a ready made smile on her face. It stretched into something more genuine when she saw who was on the other side.

"Hey, Kid, what brings you here?" she asked.

Kid thrust his hand forward, holding out a small, neatly wrapped box. Shuffling his feet, he glanced away, then back at Rylie. Her focus was on the box as she took it from his hand and she tried to puzzle out why he would have brought it.

A present, most likely, from the way he offered it. But as far as she knew, there wasn't any kind of holiday that day. It could be a Death God thing, but considering how long she knew Kid, that was unlikely.

She glanced up to meet his eyes.

His cheeks started to pink.

"Would you like to go out tonight?" he asked in a rush.

"Of course!" She grinned. He hardly needed to ask her something like that. Any chance to hang out with her best friend made her heart thrum with excitement. It was a feeling both familiar and unfamiliar. She had felt it for a while, but she couldn't identify the emotions dancing around her core, begging to be projected outwards.

She held the urge down, carefully opening the box in her hands instead.

Kid seemed nervous as she did. He tugged his cufflinks and straightened out his sleeves, which were already perfect. They almost always were. Rylie was familiar with such nervous habits. Unlike his typical compulsive routines, Kid focused most on himself when he was nervous. Checking and rechecking parts of his attire that he would have already _triple _checked before leaving Gallows in the first place.

Rylie pushed her focus on the box and what laid inside it rather than the mystery of Kid's nervousness. It was a crystal nestled on a satin cushion. Small enough to rest in her palm, but not so small she would easily lose it. Deep purple and streaked with green; like her eyes in either form.

Eyes that were currently sparkling with dazzling light. A little sliver of that good, and light, and happy feeling inside her slipped through her walls. She saw Kid shiver slightly, his eyes widening and a small smile twitching on his lips, as he felt her projected emotions.

She was too amazing to try and snatch the projection back and lock it up tight. The crystal was beautiful. It reminded her of her mother's jewels, the ones that were deep, and black, and so perfectly encompassed everything her mother was.

This was _Rylie's _crystal.

For what sort of reason would someone give a gift like this?

"_ Ancients _, this is beautiful, Kid," she said breathily, holding the crystal in her hands. She cupped it against her chest, as if she could push it into her core and make it sparkle brilliantly.

Kid's first response was a disarming smile, bright and beaming. But then it slipped into something else, a kind of smile Rylie hadn't seen on him before. Still good, but there was something more smug about it. He leaned against the doorframe and lifted his chin.

"Not as beautiful as you," he said.

Rylie blushed furiously, looking away. Brushing a strand of hair out of her face, she tried to gather her thoughts. Kid couldn't possibly like her, could he? She was just a nobody in the grand scheme of things. She wouldn't live as long as he would, she wasn't anything special.

She shook her head, mostly to herself.

There was no way he liked her, she reasoned. Besides, she couldn't even tell if she liked him. Emotions were confusing. Sometimes she didn't want to deal with them. Rarely, if ever, were they simple enough for her to decipher. She didn't even know what she was feeling right now!

"S-So," she stuttered, "where did you want to go?"

"It's a surprise," Kid said, leaning forward slightly.

Sly, Rylie realized belatedly. That's what his smile was like. It was sly, but in a teasing way, and she liked it.

"Are you able to go now?"

"That depends," she said, smiling back. "Is this the sort of surprise I need to be blindfolded for?"

"_ Well _…" Kid hummed, folding his hands together and tapping his thumbs. "I _could _, if you want it to really be a surprise."

Rylie let out a soft giggle. She hadn't really been serious, but if it was really that big of a surprise, then why not? "Sounds like fun."

She stepped and welcomed him in. She knew they could find _something _adequate in the apartment for blindfolding, if they spent a minute or two searching. Kid, apparently, didn't feel like waiting that long. He unbuttoned his suit jacket, slipped it off his shoulders, and stepped closer to her.

"Ready?" he asked.

Rylie's blush grew deeper and she said, "Y-yeah."

Kid draped the jacket over Rylie's face and, holding the sleeves, reached around her head. His chin bumped her forehead as he tied the sleeves together, practically hugging Rylie to his chest.

Her face was on fire.

She felt him pull the sleeves tight, testing the knot, and he suddenly stepped back, taking away her support. She stumbled a little and instinctively reached out to feel her surroundings.

"I'll lead you," Kid said.

His fingers brushed hers, and she grimaced over the feathery touch until he slipped his hand in hers and gave it a tentative squeeze.

Rylie squeezed back. "Well, of course. I don't even know where we're going. Plus, I'm blind now."

She thought she was hilarious, and appreciated the quiet chuckle her joke dragged out of Kid.

Her smile never faltered as Kid guided her down to the street and through Death City. She wondered what kind of stares they were getting. If anyone they passed faltered midstep or did a double-take when they saw Kid and Rylie.

She laughed softly at the thought.

* * *

They were getting a lot of stares, and Kid completely ignored them. He didn't care. He was too happy. He was going on a _date _with _Rylie _. There was nothing that could ruin his mood right now.

Not even the young mother who took one look at Kid's wide, wide smile, and ushered her child along, fervently whispering, "Don't make eye contact."

"I can't," Rylie answered.

Kid tried very hard not to laugh at the woman's affronted expression. He failed.

The woman jumped and scurried away even faster.

"I think you scared her off," Kid said.

"Some people are afraid of the weirdest things. You'd think that this wouldn't be one of them."

"So you'd think." The fact that Kid was, well, Death the Kid, probably didn't help. But none of that mattered. Especially since their destination was just ahead.

He stopped outside the doors of the Death City Public Library. It wasn't his favourite building in the city, far from it in fact. The outer facade was nearly perfectly symmetrical, minus the two lanterns hanging on either side of the door. One was antique and elegant, the other modern and stylish.

It was disgusting. Maybe if there was more wrong with the building he wouldn't feel such visceral hatred at the sight of it. As it was, the building was lying to him. Pretending to be perfect when it wasn't. He despised it.

But he knew there was something inside that Rylie would absolutely love, so he could put up with it for now.

"We're here." Kid tugged his jacket off Rylie's head. He started to put it back on, then paused.

Didn't Sam say something about offering Rylie his jacket? He couldn't remember exactly what it was, but it sounded like a good idea. Instead of putting the jacket on, he draped it over Rylie's shoulders, setting it just right so it sat straight.

Rylie's ears went red, and the sight of it had Kid thinking that maybe he shouldn't have done that. Rylie didn't really let people get so close to her unless she initiated. Kid had forgotten to ask permission first.

But instead of rejecting the jacket, as he was worried she would, Rylie instead lifted her arms and grabbed the lapels, pulling it tighter.

"Are you sure?" she asked him softly.

"I could always blindfold you again," Kid suggested.

"I-I-I," she stumbled over her words, getting increasingly more flustered. She bunched her shoulders and hid her face, which was quickly turning the same vivid shade of red as her ears.

This close to her, Kid got a taste of the emotions she was projecting—something she usually tried very hard to stop. They were chaotic, completely jumbled, an absolute mess, but not unpleasant.

They edged over his own emotions, strong enough to tint his cheeks pink. Watching Rylie become a flustered, blushing mess made his stomach flip, and he liked how it felt.

Not to mention how cute Rylie looked with her cheeks painted crimson, lips pressed together, nose wrinkling as she tried to fight back her blush.

Instantly, he decided he wanted to see that look on her face a lot more.

"Well, you could always blindfold _me _, but I don't think you know where we're going," Kid said. Tilting his head back, he covered his eyes with a slender wrist, holding his other hand out to Rylie. "Want to try it?"

Rylie squeaked.

She had squeaked.

She had _squeaked _.

It was the cutest thing Kid had ever heard. He peeked at her through his fingers, taking in her bright red face.

"Is that a no?" he asked, pouting and slumping his shoulders.

"I-I-I mean, y-you did say I w-wouldn't know where w-we're going," she admitted, her voice shaking as she looked away. "I-I'd just drag us i-in c-circles."

"Thirty-nine steps down the main aisle, turn left toward sciences, eleven steps, turn right. Sixteen steps. Stop." Kid covered his eyes and wagged his fingers. "Lead away."

"A-Alright," she said, surprising Kid. Her hand shook in his.

Kid had to be dreaming. Being guided through the library wasn't a particularly intimate act; Patty dragged him around the manor often enough that it was just something that _happened _. But having Rylie guide him was different. He felt reassured with her hand in his, with soft palms and rough knuckles from fighting. Halfway through the first thirty-nine steps he stopped counting, trusting Rylie to guide him perfectly.

Rylie stopped abruptly.

"Is there something I should be looking at specifically?" she asked.

Kid thought about it a moment, turning in place and trying to get his bearings without being able to see. He shuffled around in a circle, sticking his foot out to bump his toes against the shelves. At this point, he knew he could open his eyes, but he was having fun.

After a solid two minutes of feeling around, he stopped in place and kicked the bottom of the bookshelf in front of him.

"Right here!" He pointed up at the sign he knew hung over the shelves.

_Ectobiology. _

Rylie let out a soft gasp and her hand left his. He finally opened his eyes, watching her scan the shelves. She kneeled down and traced her fingers along the spines, trailing over the names, names Kid knew she would recognize: Myra, Rivero, Zapata, and more.

And Fenton.

Rylie leapt up and tackled Kid in a hug. "How did you—" She broke off and squeezed.

Kid eagerly hugged her back, a little thrill running through him. "Since we can't get rid of all the Guys in White textbooks at the academy, I convinced my father to get a proper collection here."

"It's perfect," she whispered. She didn't let go. Kid was glad she didn't.

"I'm happy you like it!" he said. They lingered for a minute, and he prepared himself for the moment she would, eventually, pull her arms back and step away. He waited for her to move first. And waited. And waited.

When he realized Rylie wasn't going to let go any time soon, he was perfectly okay with that. He could easily break the hug first but decided he didn't want to. In fact, as he squeezed her closer, he made a silent vow.

He would never be the first to let go.

He would be perfectly happy to let the hug drag on longer but, eventually, Rylie did step back. And when she did, she gave him of her rare, brilliant smiles. A smile that could light up a room, a ray of sunshine.

A thud from the stacks behind them interrupted the moment, and they spun toward the noise. A shock of blue hair peeked out from around the bookcase: Fletcher.

A hand reached out, snaked into Fletcher's hair, and yanked him back out of sight. However, they heard his voice loud and clear.

"Ow ow ow ow, not the hair, Liz!" he exclaimed.

"Ugh, you're the _worst _spy," Liz said.

Kid strode forward and rounded the corner, clasping his hands behind his back. Liz and Fletcher stood at the end of the aisle, the former holding the latter up by his hair.

Kid scowled. "_ Why are you here? _"

"Checking out books?" Fletcher said slowly. He shrugged. "It's a public library."

"You hate reading anything that isn't a comic, Fletcher," Rylie deadpanned as she stopped by Kid's shoulder.

Fletcher hesitated. "And?"

Rylie just sighed.

"I wanted Fletcher's help finding a book. Uh," Liz reached out and grabbed a book without looking, "this one, to be exact."

"'Madness and the Moon: the Lunar Effect,'" Kid said, reading the book's title. "Isn't that pseudoscience?"

"I could _love _pseudoscience, you don't know!" Liz snapped, hugging the book to her chest.

"Except I do know," Kid drawled.

"Fletcher doesn't even know how to search for books in a library, Liz." Rylie folded her arms.

"Hey!" Fletcher protested.

"Am I wrong though?"

"Damn it, Ry."

"So, care to explain why you're _really _here?" Kid asked.

"... Is being worried for Rylie a valid answer?" Fletcher tried.

Kid quirked his eyebrow. "Worried about her going out with me?"

"Worried about her in _general _," Fletcher said, waving his hands about in a vague, encompassing gesture.

It was Rylie's turn to protest. "Hey!"

"You try living with her for a year. See how worried _you _get."

"I'm not that bad." She huffed and looked away..

Fletcher gave her a pointed stare. "Your parents banned you from trying to cook before I even got there because you set fire to the kitchen making mac and cheese. You nearly blew up—"

Rylie rushed forward and clapped her hands over Fletcher's mouth. "_ Okay _we don't need to continue that story!"

"Okay! I think we're getting off track," Liz said. She yanked Fletcher back and started edging away. "I found the book I want, because that's _definitely _why we're here, not to spy on you. So, let's go, Fletcher."

She spun on her heels, shifting her hold to Fletcher's arm, and dragged him alongside her.

"I can walk!" he cried out indignantly, although to Kid, he didn't actually look too put out by the situation.

"I can walk faster," Liz said.

* * *

As soon as they were around the corner and out of sight from Rylie and Kid, Liz discarded the book onto the nearest shelf. "Thanks for blowing our cover."

Their team up had been an impromptu decision. Halfway through the school day, Kid pulled Liz out of class—not that she'd complain about that—and dragged her all around the city looking for a gift for Rylie. He had been oddly adamant that the gift be anything _but _flowers.

After they found the gift, and wrapped it neatly in a little box, Liz waited ten minutes, just long enough for Kid to walk to Rylie's apartment, ask her out, and leave, before calling to ask Fletcher how it went.

He apparently hadn't even known Kid was there, much less that he asked Rylie on a date.

Which somehow lead to Liz and Fletcher stalking the two across the city, eager to see how their meisters were getting along on their first date.

"I slipped." Fletcher huffed. "It's not like I _meant _to do that."

He crossed his arms, a contemplative look settling on his face. After a moment, he thrashed in Liz's grip and pulled away, walking on his own rather than being dragged. "She doesn't even realize what's going on, Liz."

Liz nodded. She hadn't really seen that herself, but she trusted Fletcher's judgement when it came to Rylie.

"They really are perfect for each other. I practically had to tell Kid he liked Rylie,"  
she said.

"She doesn't really know her own emotions," Fletcher explained. "She might not even know if she likes him, if that makes any sense?"

"Yeah, it does." Liz sighed, dropping her head into her hands. "These two idiots. We need to do something about it."

"I can talk to some of her ghost friends? There's bound to be someone who could get them both on the same page," he offered with a shrug. "I mean, that's how her parents got together, sort of? They just sort of were ghost hunting together and then her dad asked her mom out one day."

"I could tell Kid to be more straightforward." Liz held the door of the library open for Fletcher, then followed him out onto the sidewalk. "You saw it too, right? He hasn't really done anything direct, so I guess I can see where Rylie is missing it. It's not like Kid has never given her anything before, and they hang out all the time."

She sighed again—she felt like she would be doing that a lot from now on—and brushed her hair over her shoulder. "They're idiots. But loveable idiots."

Fletcher looked up at Liz. "Rylie also doesn't really understand flirting. Her first day she flirted with him without really knowing it. At least, I don't think she did. He didn't flirt back, either."

"You know, there's actually a really easy solution. I could just tell Kid to go right up to Rylie and tell her point blank how much he likes her."

"... That could work, if he worded it right," he mused. "I could probably have a talk with her so she can better understand how she may be feeling?"

"Okay." Liz stopped and grabbed Fletcher's shoulder. She glanced back toward the library, just in time to see Rylie and Kid leaving, heading the opposite way down the street. "Sounds like a plan. Now, I want to finish spying."

"How? We've already got caught," he pointed out. "Which I am sorry for."

"_ Exactly _, we got caught. They think we're gone, so they won't be watching for us now. It's perfect." Liz said. "Trust me. They won't even know."

* * *

Kid knew. He didn't trust Liz _not _to try something else after getting caught, although he didn't expect her to go right back to tailing them. Ever since leaving the library, Kid kept checking for Liz and Fletcher with his soul perception.

They kept their distance, which was nice, but he still didn't like it. He wanted to turn around and scold them. There had to be better things for them to do.

At least it looked like Rylie didn't realize they were still being followed. Honestly, that was the only reason Kid hadn't interrupted their date to chase the two nosy weapons away.

He got a little bit of vindictive pleasure when he brought Rylie to a cafe and lingered. The cafe was too small for Liz and Fletcher to sneak inside, so they were forced to sit outside and wait as the sun set and the air got colder.

Kid licked his ice cream cone—one scoop, pistachio and raspberry, split perfectly down the middle—and smiled. It wasn't a particularly kind smile.

Rylie devoured her ice cream at an impressive speed, savouring the mix of mint and lime she'd chosen to get.

"Are they still following us?" she asked, eyeing his smile.

Kid paused. He raised his ice cream up to hide his lips. "No?"

"I wonder why they were following us…" Rylie mused.

So did Kid. Liz was going to get a stern lecture when they got home.

"It hasn't… ruined anything, has it?" he asked.

Rylie shook her head. She bit into her waffle cone and licked some ice cream off her lips. "I thought it was fun."

"Really?" Kid licked his ice cream again, smiling blissfully. His first date with Rylie and it went off without a hitch. Minus the interruption from Liz and Fletcher, but if Rylie didn't think that ruined it, then Kid wouldn't either.

They stopped outside Rylie's apartment building. Kid turned to face Rylie.

_Be direct _, he thought.

"Rylie I really like you and I had fun tonight and I hope we can go out again," he said.

Rylie gave him another brilliant grin and chirped, "Of course we can, and I like you too!"

Kid could have been struck down by a bolt of lightning in that moment and he wouldn't care. He would die happy. Did this mean they were dating now? It must. Rylie was officially his girlfriend.

He ducked his head over his ice cream, bringing up his hand to hide his flushed cheeks in what he _hoped _was a subtle move.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Rylie opened the door to the apartment building, looking at him with a curious look.

"Absolutely," Kid said. He waited until Rylie closed the door before turning around. Hunching over his ice cream, he pursed his lips, eyes wide and shining, and stared at the pavement. His shoulders trembled and the ice cream cone cracked under his tight grip. Shadows curled around him.

"That went so well," he whispered to his ice cream. "That was…"

He threw his head back, the shadows exploding around him, and shouted, "_ Perfect!" _


	6. Training Day

**Training Day — Kid Gets Punched By His Girlfriend?**

Kid loped along the sidewalk, hands in his pockets, head tilted back as he stared at the sky, the clouds beautifully symmetrical this morning. Yesterday marked the end of his first week at DWMA. So far he thought things were _interesting_ there, his classmates memorable, the classes themselves easy enough, since Kid already knew the material, but it gave him a chance to interact with more people his age. Spending all day with his girlfriend was an added bonus.

Kid looked down, shaking his head so his hair would hide the blush creeping across his cheeks. Rylie, his _girlfriend_. He thought it would feel weird to start calling her that, but instead it felt right.

Taking his hands from his pockets, he fluttered his fingers across his cheeks. Was his blush even? He kept his palms pressed against his cheeks until the heat left.

Just in time, too. He glanced to his left and saw Rylie and Fletcher's apartment building. Double door entrance, eight front windows, symmetrical window boxes and four identical flower pots on the front steps.

A pleasant smile melted onto Kid's face. This building was officially one of his favourite in all of Death City. Fifty percent because of the symmetry and fifty percent because Rylie lived there. Maybe sixty percent for Rylie.

No, wait. That wasn't balanced. Fifty-fifty was good.

Without a second thought, Kid, palm sparking, reached for the front door. A writhing black cord shot from his hand, the tiny skull on the end grinning fiercely. It pierced the lock, making a satisfying click, and when Kid turned the doorknob it opened without resistance.

He shook out his hand as the cord dissipated, nudging the door closed behind him, and started up the stairs to the eighth floor.

He made his way up to the eighth floor and stopped in front of Rylie and Fletcher's door. Knocking eight times, he leaned back and waited for someone to answer the door. Two minutes later he decided to just unlock the door himself. He waited another six minutes before doing so.

"Hello?" he called as he pushed the door open, stepping into the apartment. It was just as impeccable as the last time he visited. A quick glance to the left showed the kitchen was empty. He walked forward to the living room, also empty.

The sound of a door opening drew his attention to the hall on his right. Kid paused and watched Rylie, humming a tune and pulling on a jacket, step into the hall. He couldn't recall seeing her outfit before, a black crop top with black sweats, simple and symmetrical, but she looked lovely in it. He watched silently until she stepped into the living room, looked up, and finally noticed he was there.

A deep blush blazed across her face as she fumbled with her jacket's zipper, quickly pulling it all the way up to her neck.

"Kid!" she exclaimed. "What are you—how did you get in here? I thought I locked the door."

"You did," Kid said. He looked Rylie up and down, nodding in satisfaction. Even with the jacket zipped, she was still symmetrical, and the close-fitting sleeves emphasized her toned arms, a hard to miss display for her hidden strength.

His gaze snapped up to meet her eyes. "I just unlocked it."

Rylie stared at him. "You do know that's considered breaking and entering, right? N-Not that I'd report it because you're welcome here anytime but I would've liked a warning."

"Sorry, of course, I'll warn you next time," Kid said. He looked back over his shoulder at the front door, scrutinizing the lock. "But I didn't break anything to enter."

"I mean, yeah…" Rylie sighed, running a hand through her hair. "But you don't need to break anything for it to be considered breaking and entering. It means you went into someone's house, or in this case apartment, without their permission. It usually involves manipulating locks, or breaking things."

"Oh," Kid said. His knowledge of human laws was tenuous at best. He focused more on crimes that tainted the soul, like murder. He used this method of opening locked doors all around the academy on a daily basis.

"I wasn't aware," he continued. "Thank you for the clarification."

He checked the time on the living room clock, the hour hand nearing eight, meaning they had plenty of time for Kid's plans today. After seeing Rylie go up against Stein the other day, Kid decided to do something about it. And since punishing Stein wasn't an option—that idea already got turned down by his father—then he would do the next best thing.

Help Rylie so she could be more prepared the next time she faced someone as brutal as Stein.

"We're going to train," he said, offering Rylie his hand. He was fairly certain that's what you did with people you liked.

"I mean, that's what I was planning to do today." Rylie paused, then frowned. "You said 'we.'"

"Yes, I'm going to train with you. You've learned a lot from your father, and you'll learn more from the teachers at the DWMA, but I've been trained by my father and many of the death weapons, and I think I can help your training move even faster," Kid said. He had spent a lot of time thinking about it since watching Stein's "lesson."

While the man's methods were abhorrent, he did make a good point. Rylie needed to learn to use her powers without arousing suspicion. While Kid's death god powers weren't the same, his knowledge and experience could still help her.

Kid's outstretched hand still hovered between them.

Slowly, Rylie reached out and took it.

Kid squeezed Rylie's hand and grinned. It wasn't his normal smirk, or the pleased, cat-like smile for whenever he saw something beautifully balanced. This was a wide, Cheshire grin that looked a little off-putting paired with his stern eyes, but it was pure and carefree.

"My dad didn't put you up to this, did he?" Rylie asked.

"No, he didn't have to," Kid said.

Rylie finally smiled back, shyly. "Alright then, where to?"

"We need somewhere your secret won't be discovered, right? I was thinking out in the desert," Kid said. They would be far away from any prying eyes, and he could sense any curious souls before they got close enough to see. "We can fly on Beelzebub until we get outside the city."

"That's perfect," Rylie said.

Kid pulled Rylie to the window, unlocking and shoving it open with one hand. Turning his palm down, he dropped Beelzebub on Rylie's floor, jets out, and stepped on board. With a quick tug, he pulled Rylie flush against him, one arm wrapped around her waist.

"Ready?" he asked.

He barely even waited for her to nod before taking off out the window.

* * *

Flying for ten minutes at top speed brought them far enough away from Death City and any roads so they could train without worrying about prying eyes. Kid probably could have let go of Rylie as soon as they left the city and let her fly on her own. He probably _should_ have. That's what he meant to do.

But as soon as he had her right next to him on Beelzebub, he didn't want to let go. Even now, as he landed on the hot sand and put away his skateboard, he didn't want to take his arm from Rylie's waist. He liked being close to her like this.

Rylie had blushed for the entire ride and kept pressing her face against his shoulder. Now that they were standing on the sand, she didn't move from his side.

"So, what's first?" she asked nervously, her gaze jumping around the empty desert. After a moment, she stepped away.

Kid let his arm drop.

"Your biggest problem is being able to use your abilities while keeping your secret," he said. As he talked, he took off his jacket, folding it neatly and laying it on the sand. "If you can, it will give you an advantage over your opponents. I think we should work on that today."

He unclipped his skull broach and set it down on top of his jacket. Unbuttoning his cuffs, he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. He slipped his thumbs under his suspenders, tugging on them to make sure they were settled, before shaking out his arms and holding them out in front of him.

When he looked up, Rylie was staring at him, her blush darker than ever. He grinned at her.

"Watch closely," he said. Reaching inside himself, he gently tugged on his soul's wavelength. Unlike Black*Star and Stein, Kid lacked the fine control to release his wavelength in a targeted blast like the soul pulse, which was all kinds of ironic.

_Black*Star_, of all people, had a level of control over his power that Kid didn't. But, as a Death God, Kid could manifest his wavelength in a way neither of them could, although he didn't do it much since he had Liz and Patty.

Black sparks popped along his arms, slowly growing bigger until they arced off him in ribbons. Kid clenched his fists, spun around, and punched the ground.

Sand went flying everywhere, up into the sky and raining down on both him and Rylie. A shallow crater sat at his feet, beneath his outstretched fist. It could have been bigger if he put more of his wavelength into the attack, but with his lacking control, it would just blow up in his face.

He ruffled his hair, shaking out the sand, and turned to Rylie to explain.

"As a Death God, I can manifest my wavelength and use it to bolster my attacks. On some very rare occasions, humans can do something similar. If you can make your ectoplasm look like a wavelength, then you can pretend to be one of those people," Kid said. "You'd still be fairly limited, but it would let you use some of your powers without being discovered."

He kept ruffling his hair as sand continued to fall out of it, making him scowl. Maybe he should have demonstrated another way. He smoothed out his shirt, brushing _more_ sand off, but still didn't feel clean. Scratching his head, he glanced at Rylie. "Any questions?"

She looked at her her hand, curling it into a fist, mouth set into a determined frown.

Activating his soul perception, Kid watched Rylie's core activate, the ethereal ectoplasm rushing through her veins, giving her eyes a slight glow. Green ectoenergy crackled around her closed fist. She stepped back, turned away from Kid, and struck the ground.

Sand exploded upwards in a large mushroom cloud. Kid tilted his head back, staring up at the cloud of sand that gravity was quickly reclaiming. In seconds it would all come crashing down. So much sand. Everywhere.

"Guess I need to dial that back a bit," Rylie said, a trace of nervous laughter in her voice.

Kid wasn't listening. Pivoting on his heels, he turned his back on the cloud and _booked it_. Snatching up his jacket and broach, he tucked them under his arms and pelted through the desert, trying to outrun the sand.

It was futile.

The cloud of sand descended, overtaking him just as he started forming Beelzebub. Kid hopped on board and shot into the sky, but it was too late. Sand covered him from head to toe, fell down his shirt, filled his shoes, and settled in his hair.

For a moment he just stood there, breathing deeply, _feeling_ the sand _everywhere_. Then he dropped to his knees, clinging to Beelzebub's edge so he didn't fall off, and hung his head.

"Damn it, disgusting, defeated by _sand_." Kid groaned and scratched his head.

"Sorry!" Rylie exclaimed. She flew up towards him, hovering by his side. "I could turn you intangible to get the sand off? If you want, that is."

Kid sniffed and rubbed his nose. "Yes, please."

Rylie set her hand on Kid's shoulder. A sharp prickling suddenly ripped through his body and he nearly flinched, going stiff. It was like thousands of pins were being pushed into his skin. The feeling disappeared as soon as Rylie let go and he turned tangible again.

Kid gasped and ran a hand along his bare arms. He felt perfectly fine, now. The itch on his head had faded, too, now that he was free of sand. Intangibility was so useful. He leaned back, balancing on his knees, and started smoothing out his shirt like nothing had happened.

"It looks like we'll be focusing on control for now," he said. Beelzebub drifted back down to the ground. "I think I know how we can start."

"How?" Rylie asked.

"You saw how my arms were sparking before. If you can maintain that at a consistent level of power for… let's say eight minutes, then I think you'll have enough control to perform the actual attack," Kid said. "And an important part of pulling this off is making your ectoplasm look like a soul wavelength, so this exercise would help with control and appearance. I can do it with you."

"I, well. I can do this," Rylie said, a golden energy sparking around her hand. She bit her lip. "But I really don't think it's a good idea, I'm not _supposed _to use this color because–"

The sparks grew more violent, snapping at the sand and turning it to glass. Rylie quickly cut the energy off.

"Because that happens."

Kid hummed, tapping a finger against his chin. "Every soul is different, so it doesn't have to look exactly like my wavelength does, but the colour is important. When someone manifests their wavelength like this, it's supposed to be the same color as their soul. Mine is different because I'm not human. But your human soul is purple. Can you make purple ectoplasm?"

"I can try?" she said.

Kid stared expectantly.

A green ball of ectoplasm formed in her palm, floating in the air innocently. As she poured more raw energy into it, it started to turn a cold blue, like her ice, but the temperature remained consistent, proving it was still ectoplasm.

Rylie took a deep breath, her eyes glowing brighter. The blue energy sparked as she added small amounts of unstable red energy, the color inching towards purple. Before she could even hold it there for a second, it exploded. The blast tossed her back; she cried out in surprise.

"Rylie!" Kid shouted, taking off after her. He stumbled through the sand until he reached her side and helped her up. He brushed sand off her shoulders. "What happened?"

"It exploded," she said. She unzipped her jacket and shook it out before discarding it in the sand.

"Really? I've never seen an explosion before," Kid deadpanned.

Rylie blinked, then chuckled. Her grin was bright, but she tried to keep herself from laughing too hard. "Yeah, that was… There's a reason I've got two forms. My human body isn't made of ectoplasm and isn't made to interact with such large and powerful quantities of it."

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Plus, I never really use more than green. I've never found a need for it. I'll just need to keep practicing, is all."

"Don't worry about making it purple for now, especially if it's going to keep exploding like that." Kid didn't want her hurting herself for this, that would be a little counter-productive. "Most people don't have soul perception, so they won't realize something is wrong with the color. Using green ectoplasm is fine."

"So, I just have to keep a hold on the energy for eight minutes, right?" Rylie asked, ready to jump back into it.

"Eight minutes," Kid repeated. "I'll do it with you."

He readied himself first, taking a deep breath and drawing on his wavelength once again. He kept his arms relaxed, this time focusing on using as little of his wavelength as possible, and watched Rylie closely.

She shuffled her feet, getting comfortable, and shook out her arms. She held out her arm, palm facing forward. Green ectoplasm sparked and crackled around her fingers, holding steady. She was doing well, although she looked nervous, like she didn't quite think she could do it.

Kid knew she could. Her ectoplasm crackled with a steady rhythm, a sure sign of good control, and a satisfying thing to watch. He wasn't surprised by how easily she picked it up. Rylie knew her ectoplasm, had worked with it all her life. He expected nothing less of her.

Himself, on the other hand… that was another story.

A minute in, Kid's wavelength started to fluctuate, the arcs of energy growing larger despite how hard he was trying to keep it down. It was like trying to get a gentle stream of water from a hose going at full blast by covering the nozzle with his thumb. It just wasn't going to happen.

Two minutes in he gave up on trying to keep it down and instead focused on trying to _keep it_. Ribbons of energy coiled and twisted along his arms, arcing around him, snapping off when they grew too large. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he tried to rein it in.

"You don't need to do this with me, you know," Rylie said, her tone filled with worry.

"I need… to practice... too," Kid said haltingly. It was hard to concentrate on this and talk at the same time. Cracking an eye open, he glanced at Rylie. "But you might… want to… step back."

She obeyed, erecting a shield around herself, the energy on her hand dying out within seconds.

"I want to make sure you're okay," she said. "So I think I'll stay here behind my shield."

"I'll be… fine." Kid gritted his teeth.

"You don't _look _fine," she said, arching an eyebrow.

The moment was too good. Remembering Liz's advice, Kid smirked and tilted his head back, winking at Rylie. "But _you_ do look fi—"

He exploded. His wavelength surged, swallowing him whole and bursting across the desert. The sky went dark, stained by the ambient energy. Black sparks fizzled in the air. When the dust cleared, Kid lay at the bottom of a scorched crater, shirt singed and arms sizzling. His rumpled jacket lay at his feet.

He didn't even make it to three and a half minutes.

"Kid!" Rylie yelled, dispelling her shield and sliding down to the bottom of the crater. Her arms shook slightly as she reached the bottom, eyes wide with fear.

"You dumbass." She sounded like she was about to cry. "The minute you lose control you're supposed to cut it off and _not _let it explode."

"What can I say?" Kid stuffed his hands in his pockets, doing his best to look casual while lying in the sand. "My heart was exploding for you."

Rylie offered him a hand, then blurted out, "We must be subatomic particles, because I feel a strong force between us."

Silence fell. Her eyes widened, a deep red blush taking over her face, and she sputtered for a moment. "I-I have no idea where that came from."

Kid stared at her. And stared. And stared. Then broke out into that wide, elated grin only Rylie could bring to his face. He took her hand and pulled himself up.

"The 'where' doesn't matter, just the 'who.'" He picked off the top button of his shirt, which hung by a thread. "And as long as it's _you_, it's perfect."

Rylie looked away, her ears red. "W-We should probably call it a day on training, I'm not letting you overwork yourself," she lamely. It was a hasty subject change, but Kid went with it.

"We haven't even been here an hour," he said. Not even an hour and his shirt was already ruined, blackened and torn by the explosion.

"I'll carry you back to the Gallows if I have to," Rylie said, folding her arms. "You blew yourself up."

"Only a little bit." Kid shrugged and looked away, scanning the crater. "That was a smaller explosion than last time."

Rylie just looked at him, speechless. She shook her head and sighed, saying, "The fact this is apparently normal concerns me greatly."

Kid suddenly wished he'd kept his mouth shut. He didn't want Rylie to worry about him, he was fine. He'd been dealing with his poor control for years, although 'dealing' was maybe to strong of a word. 'Putting up with' was more accurate.

"Okay, we can go, in a minute," he finally relented under Rylie's concerned stare. "But you should make _some_ progress today."

He picked up his jacket, draping it over one arm, and backed up a few steps.

"Hit me with the attack you tried. That way you can at least feel what it's like to use it on a person, and that can help you figure out how much power to use. Focus on controlling the output, don't worry about hurting me. As a Death God, I can take it," he said, holding out his arms.

Rylie looked hesitant.

"A little more than a week ago, a pharaoh attacked me with a mallet three times my size, and I'm perfectly fine," he said, urging her on. "Don't worry."

The energy crackled in Rylie's hand. "I'm always going to worry about you, Kid. You're a dumbass sometimes," she said, giving him a deadpan stare. "But I get your point."

Without another word, she vanished. Kid could see her soul, but the average opponent wouldn't be able to, so it was a clever trick. Go invisible and use her flight to make it look like she was moving too fast to see.

She regained visibility in front of him, her hand sparking less than the first time, and she swung her fist, aiming for his midsection.

Kid thought he was ready for her attack. He knew Rylie's strength, knew he'd probably be blown back, maybe even blasted into the air depending on how she hit him and how hard. He was ready for that.

He wasn't ready for the blinding explosion of pain as Rylie drove her ectoplasm-wreathed fist into his gut. Her punch launched Kid into the air, sending him flying out of the crater. He hit the ground once, twice, three times, bouncing along until he rolled to a stop.

The pain seared his stomach, hot as a branding iron, digging deep and oozing into every pore. He lay there, wide-eyed and gasping, barely able to pull a single thought together. It felt like an inferno was growing straight from his gut and consuming him from the inside out.

Kid rested his shaking hands on his stomach, feeling the burnt, slick skin. He shot upright, instantly regretting the abrupt movement, and stared at the blood in his fingers. He was bleeding. Rylie's punch had _burned_ him and he was _bleeding_.

"Kid!" Rylie's panicked scream reached his ears, a burst of sand rising from the crater as she took off with great force.

Kid whipped around to face the crater—_stupid, painful move_—and scrambled to his feet. He couldn't let Rylie see, she'd never forgive herself. Clutching his stomach with one hand, he stumbled in circles, looking for his jacket.

There, just a few yards away. It went flying with him, but thankfully not too far. He dove for it, shoving his arms in the sleeves, doing up the buttons with fingers like lightning. The jacket was a slim fit and pressed against the injury, but the pressure felt nice.

He did up the last button just as Rylie arrived, folding his hands in front of his stomach, and turned to face her.

She studied him, her gaze raking over his body, no doubt looking for any sign of injury.

"That was a horrible idea," she said. "I'm never doing that to you again. If you try, I'm telling Liz."

"I'm perfectly fi—" Kid tried to stand up straight and wheezed, immediately hunching over. "—ne. I am _moderately_ fine."

Rylie raised an eyebrow. "We're going either to Gallows or my apartment, and you _will _let me do first aid," she told him. She wasn't leaving room for an argument.

"We can go to Gallows," Kid said quickly. "But first aid isn't necessary, I'll be healed by the time we get there. It's just a bad bruise."

Rylie stared him down, not an ounce of belief in her gaze.

"I'm flying you back," she said as she transformed.

"People will see," Kid pointed out.

"I'll fly high enough so that they can't make us out," she shot back. "I really don't care if people know my ghost half is here. You're more important."

"I disagree," Kid mumbled, but he still leaned against her when she got close. Just standing up was taking far too much effort, and it didn't feel like he was healing. He should be healing.

Rylie picked him up bridal style. "I can also turn us invisible, remember?" she reminded him as she started to float upwards, her legs turning into her tail.

"So useful." Kid let himself relax in her arms, feeling a small wave of relief when the tension left his abdominal muscles. Now all he had to do was not bleed on Rylie until he could escape her sight.

* * *

The flight home should have been a pleasant one. Ten straight minutes flying above the desert with Kid in her arms sounded nice, in theory, but it was far from it. The whole flight, Rylie's gut twisted with worry. The pained expression hadn't left Kid's face, and while he was trying to hide it, she could see he was hurting.

Dumbass Death God pretending he was fine when they were as far from it as he could be. He gritted his teeth the whole way, pain swimming in his eyes. When they landed in an alley near the Gallows and Rylie let go of the invisibility, he let out a sigh of relief.

Rylie transformed back, warily putting him on his feet. "If you need to, you can hold onto me."

"I'll be okay," Kid said, but he couldn't even stand up straight. Rylie reached out to stop him when he tried, but she brushed her off. "It's mostly healed already."

Liar.

"Just some lingering soreness," he added.

_Liar_.

"If you're sure…" Rylie said. She tried to sound sincere, but failed. Her dad hid his pain far better than Kid ever could, and she could tell when he was hurting. But she wouldn't push it.

Kid led the way to the Gallows' front door. He managed to walk straight and keep his head up, although one hand stayed curled around his abdomen the whole time. The only time he took it off was to open the double doors at the same time.

Rylie didn't like that.

"Liz, Patty, I'm home!" Kid called out. He stopped and pointed to the living room. "If you'd like to wait here a moment, I need to speak to Liz about something first."

Rylie frowned and nodded. She didn't want to leave him, but she needed to respect his decisions. At least, that's what her parents would say, she thought.

"I'll be here," she said.

Rylie made her way into the living room and sat down on the loveseat. The urge to float, to play with ectoplasm in her hands, was great, but she squashed it. No need to freak anyone out, after all.

_Oh Ancients, why did I have to listen to him? _she thought, looking at her hands. _Now he's really hurt and he won't even let me help, he probably hates me now._

_He doesn't hate you. Reapers and ectoplasm don't mix, _Harvey replied. _I should know, I had to face one myself._

Surprised, Rylie frowned. _But you're just a voice in my head! How could you—_

"Hellooooo?" a childlike voice said, breaking Rylie from her internal thoughts. She looked up to see Patty standing in front of her, ready to poke her.

Rylie smiled, easily ducking away from her finger.

"Hey Patty," she said, trying to appear calm.

"Is it true that you hunt ghosts? What are ghosts like? Do they jump out and scare you and go boo?"

Rylie paused. There had been many things she was expecting. The Spanish Inquisition was not one of them.

"Well… Not really? My parents didn't allow me to go ghost hunting back home. Ghosts can be pretty dangerous after all. But not all of them are mean, there are some good ones. We kind of have a ghost dog as a pet, but he comes and goes as he wants," she explained, still smiling.

"As for your last question…"

* * *

As soon as Rylie turned toward the living room, Kid took off down the hall at an even pace. He pressed a hand to his abdomen, grimacing at the squish of blood. It was a miracle he hadn't gotten any blood on her, or that she hadn't seen the bleeding.

Thank god for dark, absorbent fabric.

During the flight back, the pins and needles he felt when Rylie turned him intangible came back with a vengeance, but this time it felt like knives in his stomach.

"Liz!" he hissed as he stalked through the hall. He stopped when he reached the staircase and let out a miserable sigh. This wasn't going to be fun.

Leaning against the wall, Kid lurched his way up the stairs. With every step, it felt like someone was shoving hot iron in his gut. Until now, he didn't even know what heat felt like, not really. His body wasn't affected by extreme temperatures, but he could think of no way to describe this sensation other than _burning_.

The staircase suddenly tilted and Kid pitched to the left. One hand shot out to catch himself, the heel of his palm slipping off the step. Sacrificing his face, he shielded his gut from the stair corner with his other arm. His cheek hit the stair's edge with a loud smack.

Kid groaned loudly, not bothering to mask his noises of pain now that Rylie couldn't hear him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Hello, Elizabeth," Kid said, greeting the carpet.

Liz's boots thumped against the stairs as she walked down to meet him. Her long hair brushed the edges of his vision.

"You have split ends," he muttered.

"What?! Say that again! I do _not!_" Liz shrieked. She grabbed his shoulders.

"No wait don't–" A sharp intake of breath cut him off as Liz pulled him up. He felt fresh blood ooze against his arm. "Oh, I hate you so much Elizabeth."

"Holy shit!" Liz shouted, staring down at his bloodied abdomen.

Kid slapped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet!"

Liz sputtered and pushed his arm away, wiping his blood off her cheeks.

"Holy _shit_," she whispered. She crouched on the step above him. "What happened? How long ago? Why are you still bleeding?"

"Please stop shouting," Kid said. By now he realized it wasn't the staircase that was spinning, but his head. He was dizzy, and nauseous, and even though Liz was whispering it made his head pound. "And help me to the bathroom. I'd like to stop bleeding on the staircase, this carpet was expensive."

"Just… why are you the way that you are?" Liz asked with a defeated sigh.

Kid didn't have an answer. Liz slipped her arms under his armpits and hauled him up, an easy task considering how short and skinny he was. Kid zeroed in on the stain on the carpet. A big, uneven blot slipping over two stairs. It was disgusting, he couldn't let it stay. He squirmed in Liz's grip.

"Wait, the carpet, I need to fix it."

"Seriously!" Liz dragged him down the hall toward the master bathroom.

"It's so ugly, and Rylie's here, what if she sees it and thinks I'm disgusting? I can't even keep a carpet clean, she'll break up with me." Kid moaned and fought against Liz's grip. He couldn't put up much of a fight in his state and Liz dropped him—_gently_—in the bathtub and locked the door.

"She's not going to break up with you over a carpet."

"I'd break up with me over a carpet," Kid whined.

"Then you're a dumbass," Liz said.

Kid watched her walk over to the counter and crouch in front of the cabinet. She pulled out a first-aid kit and returned to the tub. Seeing the kit, Kid was suddenly very grateful for Patty's little adventures, with gave her all sorts of bumps and bruises that needed treatment. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't even have medical supplies in the house.

He started scratching his head.

"Take off your jacket," Liz said.

He kept scratching.

Liz sighed and sat on the edge of the tub. "Kid, you are not disgusting, you are not a dumbass. Rylie really likes you, there's no way she'd break up with you over a little carpet stain. You know what, I'll even help you clean it tomorrow."

"Really?" Kid asked, looking up at Liz with wide, glassy eyes.

"Really. Now strip!"

Kid complied, fumbling with the buttons on his jacket and shirt, pulling them both off in one swift movement. For the first time, he got a good look at his injury. It wasn't pretty. The burn, larger than Rylie's fist, was deep. Mottled and red, it oozed blood, the skin around it streaked green.

Liz stepped back, clutching Kid's shirt and jacket to her chest. Trembling, she said, "Holy shit."

Displeased by the foul language, Kid lifted his gaze from the festering burn to Liz's face. He tutted in disappointment. "Please stop saying that, Elizabeth, it's uncouth."

"_You're _uncouth," Liz snapped. "And stop calling me Elizabeth!"

"I am _very_ couth, and very much in pain, and can call you whatever I want," he shot back, his words slurring.

"And I can call you a half-dead idiot in a bathtub, but I won't because I'm nice." Liz grabbed a towel, soaked it in peroxide, and pressed it firmly against the burn.

Startled, Kid flinched and hissed at the sudden sting, glaring at Liz. "Not _that _nice."

"We all have our faults." Liz pressed harder, holding the towel in place with one hand while she rummaged through the first-aid kit with the other.

Kid stayed still while Liz cleaned the burn. Not moving was surprisingly easily. His skin burned, his stomach revolted against him, and his limbs weighed him down. He wanted to curl up in the bottom of the tub and sleep. It was the pain, and his preoccupation with why his skin was _green_, that kept him from doing so.

The only explanation was the ectoplasm, but that didn't tell him _why_. Ectoplasm wasn't supposed to harm living humans, at least not the same way it hurt ghosts. Then again, Kid wasn't human. He was a Death God. Even calling him living was a bit of a stretch. It was more like existing. His essence was death. And ectoplasm was the essence of life _after_ death.

"Oh, that's just fantastic," Kid said as the reason dawned on him.

"I think so, although I've never had to bandage someone before," Liz said proudly, oblivious to Kid's thoughts. He must be really tired if his sarcasm wasn't coming out right.

He glanced down at his stomach. Liz had cleaned up all the blood and taped a gauze pad over his abdomen. Green streaks peeked out along the edges of the tape.

Who would have guessed his girlfriend could poison him on accident?

"So what happened?" Liz asked. She turned to the sink and started washing her hands, leaving Kid to clamber out of the tub himself. He tried not to move too much, or stand up straight. Every time his abdomen stretched a shock of pain shot through him, making his toes curl.

"I was practicing my restraint and things got out of hand," he explained. He stared forlornly at his pants. The waist was thoroughly soaked by blood, it even stained his belt.

"You practice a lot, and this has never happened before." Liz gave his bandage a pointed stare as she packed up the first-aid kit, tucking the gauze, tape, and peroxide back into their proper places.

Even in his dazed state, Kid appreciated her attention to order.

"I was trying something new," he said.

"Sure." Liz rolled her eyes. Crouching, she shoved the first-aid kit back in the cabinet, then glanced over her shoulder. "Have you realized you left your new girlfriend alone with _Patty_ yet?"

It took a moment for her words to sink in. When they did, Kid bolted from the bathroom, ignoring Liz's raucous laughter trailing behind him. He was halfway down the stairs before he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt and had to turn back around. Grabbing the first thing he saw from his closet—a black dress shirt—he buttoned it up as he hurried down the stairs, leaving it untucked to mask the blood on his pants and belt.

Outside the living room, he nearly collapsed. Running was a bad idea. Hunched over, leaning against the wall just out of sight, he took slow, deep breaths through his teeth, and slowly straightened up. Once he felt better, or less terrible at least, he sauntered into the living room as if the world wasn't spinning.

Rylie sat on the loveseat against the wall while Patty sprawled across the couch facing the television. They stopped talking when Kid entered.

"Patricia, I hope you aren't pestering Rylie," he said. He nearly tripped on the coffee table, but managed to catch himself at the last second.

"It's not a bother, Kid. I love talking about ghost stuff," Rylie said. She smiled, but her eyes were critical, raking over him. Kid tried not to wince or fidget while she assessed him. He didn't like the frown that crossed her lips when her gaze settled on his stomach.

"Rylie was telling me about all the ghosts she's seen!" Patty grinned, pushing herself up and bouncing on the cushion. "She's met a robot ghost!"

"That sounds fascinating," Kid said, although it was half-hearted. By now, he should feel an incessant itching sensation, his skin knitting itself back together, but didn't. Which meant the ectoplasm kept him from healing somehow. He wasn't used to being in pain for this long.

He sat down next to Rylie and leaned his head back, closing his eyes just as Liz entered the room.

She took one look at Kid, shaking her head, and sat down beside Patty.

"So, Rylie, fun morning?" she asked.

"It was… interesting," Rylie replied, sparing a glance at Kid. "Definitely learned things."

"Yeah? What'd you do?" Liz stretched her arms across the back of the couch and crossed her legs, giving Rylie an intense look.

"Well… uh…" Rylie fumbled for an explanation that wouldn't expose her secret.

_Just tell her there was a ghost attack. It works for the idiots in Amity Park, doesn't it?_ Harvey suggested.

"There was a ghost, and I had to use the ectogun my parents gave me but then I left it in the desert."

_You are an absolute moron._

"Really?" Liz's eyes narrowed. She leaned across the table and prodded Kid's knee. "Kid! Hey, Kid, is Rylie lying?"

He didn't stir.

Liz stood, climbing over the coffee table between them, and leaned over him. She frowned, sticking her nose in his face. He didn't react. She scoffed.

"Barely nine in the morning and he's _asleep_," she said. She stood up straight and huffed. Turning to Rylie, she shooed her down the couch.

"Just because I'm supposed to be a genius doesn't mean I know how ectoplasm works when it comes to a dumbass Shinigami," Rylie said, scooting down and curling into herself slightly.

A choked laugh burst out of Liz. "He's _such_ a dumbass, isn't he?"

"But I like him despite it," Rylie whispered softly, a blush tinting her cheeks.

Liz faltered. She barely heard the faint confession, and probably wasn't supposed to in the first place. Maybe these two idiots weren't as hopeless as Liz thought. Maybe Rylie would even realize Kid thought they were dating without Liz or Fletcher interfering. Maybe.

"Well, no duh you do, he's Kid and you're Rylie," Liz said.

Rylie's blush deepened and she looked away, letting out a soft squeak.

Liz grinned victoriously. She slipped a hand behind Kid's head, pushing his shoulder with her other. Slowly, she guided him down and lay his head in Rylie's lap, moving his feet to stretch his legs over the armrest. "I can't believe he sleeps so heavily."

Rylie blushed and turned away, hiding her face from Liz. She barely moved as Liz got Kid settled.

"But what does ectoplasm have to do with any of this?" Liz asked, gesturing to Kid's abdomen.

"I-I mean, well, the ghost was after me," she said. "Daughter of famous ghost hunters, I'm supposed to be some kind of genius, of course I get my fair share of attempted kidnappings. Kid was trying to get the ghost's attention off of me."

"Riiiiight. What does that have to do with a Death God and ectoplasm? Kid said he hurt himself doing those stupid control exercises again. I swear, those explosions get bigger and bigger every time," Liz said. She returned to her seat, obligingly lifting her arms so Patty could flop onto her lap the same way Kid now lay on Rylie. Resting her hands in Patty's hair, she gave Rylie a stern look.

She didn't believe either Rylie or Kid's explanation for a second. But if they were going to lie, they could have at least given the same one. Unless they didn't talk about it first.

Liz looked at Kid and scoffed. Of _course_ he wouldn't tell Rylie how hurt he actually was.

"Ghost attacks are ectoplasm-based by nature and tend to turn the skin green if the quantity is large enough," Rylie said. "I'm an expert on ghosts, Liz. I know exactly how wounds like that work. Unless you'd like me to get one of my grandmother's books to back up my statement."

"So you saw his injury?" Liz asked.

"No," Rylie replied. "But I've been through enough serious ghost attacks to know what it should look like, though."

"Okay, but you didn't actually see it, I did." Liz glanced at Kid. "It wasn't that bad, I swear. Healing just makes him really tired, something about his body working faster than ours, I don't know. I never listen when he says it. But he's fine. I mean, really, would Kid lie to you?"

_He probably would, just to protect your innocent ass, _Harvey commented.

_The peanut gallery can shut up, _Rylie shot back. "It makes sense," she said. "I don't think he would, no."

Liz leaned back, satisfied with her work. Kid owed her _so_ many shopping trips.

* * *

**This chapter was so fun to write, especially since we got to use some of our story headcanons for Kid and his limited control with his powers. That's gonna be lots of fun later on. I hope you enjoyed it!**

**—Alis**


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